Digimon Frontier: The Return
by Devientity
Summary: Four years have passed since the digi-destined defeated Lucemon, restoring peace and balance to the Digital World. However, a new threat has risen and it will be up to our heroes, along with some new friends and legendary powers, to save the day.
1. Late

**Summary: **It has been four years since the digi-destineds defeated Lucemon, but now a new danger has formed and it will be up to them, along with some new friends, to save the world.

**Author's Note:** Hello, as you probably figured out from the title, this is a return to the Digital World...I hope you all enjoy reading it, as much as I like writing it :-)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything from the Digimon Frontier series or any of the characters. I only lay claim to any Oc's, digimon or attacks I have created. Standard disclaimer applies for every chapter.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter One: Late**

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_It has been four long years since the digi-destineds, who possessed the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors, returned to their world and continued with their everyday lives…Though for us Digimon, the time has been much longer, since the two world's realities are very different. Just a few months in the Digi-world, could be mere minutes in the Human. _

_I, Bokomon, who dedicated myself to immortalising the children's story, write this now...Though the children saved our world, like countless other digi-destined before them, I fear that we may need them once again. Chaos spreads throughout the land, telling whispers of an unknown entity; a being that is enslaving my fellow digimon, while slowly destroying parts of our world. The Celestial Council has made the decision and many of us agree; we need the children...Less the Digi-world fall to this new threat after all their hard work...I only pray we will not be too late…_

* * *

Takuya Kanbara awoke sleepily, to the sound of his alarm clock, ringing…rather noisily. He grumbled and murmured curses, groping at the small table beside his bed to switch the annoying machine off before glancing at the bright red digits with narrowed brown eyes.

Yawning, he ran a hand through his disarray of hair, and then blinked once before abruptly sitting up straight with a strangled cry.

* * *

Mrs. Kanbara was humming softly to herself, as she usually did while washing the morning dishes. The light-hearted woman almost dropped a cup she had been rinsing, when an awful cry erupted from the vicinity of the bedrooms, making her jump slightly.

Suddenly, her eldest son skidded to a halt in the kitchen, pulling an orange T-shirt over his head in the process. Heaven forbid, if he should wear any colour that did not match a fire, she thought vaguely.

"Mom! Why didn't you wake me?" The sixteen-year old shouted, running fingers through his hair brusquely as if that would neaten the mess.

"I wasn't aware that you wanted me to." Mrs. Kanbara answered levelly.

Since it was school holidays, Takuya had only been surfacing from the bedroom after ten, and any time she had tried to get him up early, the attempt had met with failure. Therefore, rather than waste her time, she had given up.

"Do you realise what time it is?" He proceeded to say loudly.

"I-uh-"

Her son, however, did not wait for a reply as he was already half-way out the house and yelling a hasty goodbye.

"Be careful." She shouted in return, though was unsure if he heard or not.

"Remind me again, where exactly he came from?" Her youngest son Shinya asked from his seat at the kitchen table where he was eaten a piece of toast. The thirteen-year old, had watched the scene with amusement, since it was he who had reset his brothers alarm. However, there was no way he was going to tell his mother that tiny detail.

"Shush, Shinya." The reprimand was half-hearted considering the amused smile that played upon the woman's lips.

"Sorry." Shinya muttered sheepishly before he tilted his head thoughtfully. "But even you have to admit that Takuya is a bit odd."

Mrs. Kanbara shook her head a little and went back to her dishes.

"Finish you breakfast." She said sternly.

"Yes mom." Shinya replied with a cheeky smile.

Mrs. Kanbara could only sighed softly as she placed the last item on the rack to dry, before grabbing a towel to wipe her soaking hands.

* * *

Takuya sped down the street, cursing himself inwardly for sleeping in yet again. He was so sure that he had set the alarm for much earlier. Oh well, he could ponder that mystery later, since right now he was on the verge of being incredibly late.

The brunet arrived at the park, breathing heavily, despite the fact that he regularly played soccer and baseball. He glanced around wondering if his friends had left without him, or if maybe they were still around somewhere.

"Oh man..." He whined, unsure of what to do while looking around helplessly. There were people everywhere, but none that he recognized.

"Heya Taki!" A voice suddenly called.

Takuya turned towards the sound, a slight glare forming on his face, though secretly he was jumping in relief.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that, J.P?"

"You did." The once chubby boy said happily. "I'm just choosing not to listen."

In the last four years, J.P had lost a considerable amount of weight. Though still a big person, it was now mostly due to how tall and muscular he had become. Takuya often felt slightly jealous of the burly seventeen-year old.

"What happened? Did you sleep in?" A familiar voice asked from behind J.P.

Takuya stuffed his hands in to his pockets, while glancing at the shorter boy.

"No Tommy, I did not sleep in." He replied levelly, though he could not stop his neck from burning with embarrassment.

Tommy smiled mischievously, though did not comment on the obvious lie.

He had also grown in the last few years, even though he was only thirteen. The boy had also taken an interest in sports, playing soccer with Takuya now and then and sometimes baseball, but his true passion would always be games and computers.

"Is anyone else here?" Takuya asked, in an effort to change the subject.

"Nope, Z is still on her way. She said something about a family crisis, though that could mean anything. Koichi phoned and they're also busy with something, but I didn't get a chance to find out what."

"Then I'm not late." Takuya muttered, huffing slightly.

"No. Everyone else seems to have a valuable excuse." J.P said with a large grin. "You, on the other hand, slept in."

"I see Zoe!" Tommy suddenly exclaimed, cutting off whatever retort Takuya was going to say.

"Where?" Both older teens asked in unison, looking around.

"Here." Came a feminine voice from behind them and they jumped in surprise. Tommy was laughing at the display.

"That-That was not funny." Takuya told the blond girl, attempting to slow down his beating heart.

"I thought it was." She replied with a giggle, giving Tommy a hug, then Takuya and finally, J.P.

"You would." J.P mumbled darkly, earning a mock-glare from the girl as they pulled apart.

"Don't be such a baby, J.P."

Since the return to the real world, their relationship had also changed. J.P's crush had transformed in to a sort of brotherly affection and Zoe had accepted him as her brother in a way (since her actual one did not feel up for the job). The last few years had been difficult for Zoe, and all of them did their best to support her, especially J.P who probably understood Zoe better than anyone.

"Where are the twins?" Zoe asked casually, though she felt a little disappointed that they were not here yet. The golden blond had not changed very much in the past few years (though her friends would gladly beg to differ if she ever suggested such a thing). Her hair was down to her waist and she was a bit taller, but the boys still towered over her, with Tommy quickly catching up.

"They're on their way." Tommy informed her, while J.P mentioned his previous phone call with Koichi.

Zoe glanced at Takuya, who had suddenly gone unusually quiet. He was staring at something as if he could not believe his own eyes. Zoe turned curiously to see what it was. At first, she thought it was Koichi, but then she recognised the annoyed expression and smiled.

"Hey Koji."

"Hi Zo."

Zoe mentally blushed while trying to remain impassive. He was the only one who called her that, though she did not think the quiet boy had noticed this simple fact.

Koji was staring icily at Takuya, Tommy and J.P, who were all trying desperately not to pack up laughing.

"I thought you were never going to cut your hair?" She asked, ignoring them.

"I wasn't." Koji replied shortly. He was still eyeing the others, as if daring them to laugh so he could have a reason to vent his anger on them.

Zoe used this moment to get a good look at the new hairstyle. Koji now looked almost exactly like his twin, except his fringe was slightly longer (pieces of it framing his dark blue eyes) and his hair was messier, as though he had recently climbed out of bed. Zoe thought it looked rather nice.

"Why did you cut it?" She decided to ask, since it seemed to be a serious issue for the dark-haired teen. Koji was about to answer, when his twin came running up to them, looking very pleased with himself.

"I convinced Mom and Satomi, to let you have this back." He announced, holding out a black and blue bandana.

Koji snatched it quickly, as if his two mothers' would suddenly appear and change their collectively devious minds. Meanwhile, Koichi turned his attention towards Zoe and the others.

"Hey everyone, sorry about us being late."

"Don't worry about it." Zoe said, while they all exchanged greetings, then she turned back towards Koji. "So, you were going to tell me why you cut your hair?"

At this, Koichi smirked while Koji's scowl deepened.

"Mom and Satomi ganged up on him." Koichi said cheerfully.

Koji crossed his arms, staring at his brother coldly.

"Not to mention the fact that you helped them…Traitor."

Koichi shrugged, effectively ignoring his brother's death glare.

"They're our Mother's. What did you expect? Besides, Satomi can be scary when she's angry, what with her imbalanced hormones and all that."

Both the twins referred to Satomi as their second Mother even if she was only their step-mom. The adults did not mind though, because it actually made things easier for their complicated situation, and Satomi was currently eight months pregnant with a little girl. Everyone was excitedly waiting for the new addition of the family to arrive and Tomoko (Koji and Koichi's real mom) had already been named the child's Godmother, which Zoe thought was nice. Divorce was a sad thing if people could not move on afterwards and she was glad that Koji and Koichi's family had been able to.

Koji simply scoffed and turned away, not choosing to comment on what he deemed as disloyal behaviour from his own twin.

"Aren't we meant to be eating, right about now?" Tommy asked, reminding them all about their plans.

"Yeah." Takuya agreed, grinning widely. "We can discuss hair problems later."

"Or why we shouldn't sleep in when we have somewhere important to be." J.P reminded him smugly and Takuya's grin instantly disappeared.

J.P and Tommy laughed, telling Koichi the whole story while following the irate brunet. Zoe smiled and shook her head slightly, before turning back to Koji. The boy was running a hand through his hair and looking rather depressed.

"For what it's worth Koji, I think your hair looks good." Zoe told him quietly, attempting to cheer her friend up.

Koji glanced at her with a slightly doubtful expression.

"Are you sure?"

Zoe nodded shyly, hoping that there was no blush on her cheeks.

"Suppose its okay." He muttered softly and started to tie his bandanna around his neck. When he saw Zoe's surprised and questioning eyes, he said. "I don't like how the bandanna looks with short hair."

"Oh."

"Thanks Zo." He said quietly, avoiding the blond girl's eye. He felt a little embarrassed about how he had been behaving. Having short hair really was not something to be so worked up over. After all, it would grow back.

"That's alright. What are friends for?" She answered with a bright smile, hiding the definite colour that was now forming. "Come on, we'd better catch up with the others."

Koji nodded and set off after her, watching her with an odd expression. He could have sworn that she was blushing, but then again, maybe he had imagined it because it had not lasted more than a few seconds. The dark haired teen quietly touched a piece of his now short hair and smiled slightly.

If Zoe liked it, then he guessed he could live with it.

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**A/N: **Please review. Comments are appreciated.


	2. Family Matters

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Two: Family Matters**

* * *

Zoe sighed and absently toyed with a strand of her golden blond hair, while she listened to the boys argue about some sport or the other. This tended to be a regular occurrence when they all got together; the boys would start talking about something and in the end she would have to play peacemaker because a fight would usually follow.

_Boys, she thought fondly with a mental shake of her head. No matter how many years passed, they never truly grew up._

Zoe sipped quietly at her jasmine tea, sea-green eyes now focused on the steamy liquid and a soft smile forming on her lips. No matter how childish she thought they acted at times, there was no way she would ever want them to change. They were her best friends, and she knew she could count on them when she was struggling...If only the same could be said for other people as well.

Her smile faded and replaced by a slight frown. Why did her thoughts have to stray in that direction? Why now, when she was supposed to be having a good time with her friends?

Zoe sighed, hands tightening around her cup and thoughts turning towards her family.

After returning from the Digital world, her mom had finally met a man that made her happy. Zoe felt her mom deserved this ray of sunshine that life had offered, since it had been quite a few years since her previous husband had died.

Takao Orimoto, Zoe's father, had died when she was five years old, from a rare heart disease. Zoe did not remember much about him, except that he had loved her mother and would have wanted her to move on. Therefore, when Zoe was first been introduced to Ken Aisako, she had been thrilled.

Ken owned the local flower shop, and that was where the two adults had first met. Zoe liked him instantly. He was a kind, generous and a strong individual with a nice sense of humour, a deep fascination with plants (a passion her own mother shared) and when they finally decided to get married last year, she had been delighted.

The wedding had been simple, yet beautiful and Zoe's friends had all attended (they were practically part of the family). Zoe was happy for her mom, she really was. Ken was a nice person, he had a stable job and the best part was that he truly loved her mother...There was however, one hitch to their getting married. Zoe also gained a brother.

When her mom had first told her about Ken, she had also explained that Ken had lost his spouse under terrible circumstances. However, unlike Maya Orimoto's husband and his fatal disease, Ken's wife had died in a car accident while four months pregnant with Ken and his son home at the time.

The sad fact was, the drunken driver who hit her, got away with a simple fine.

Then Zoe had met Tyler. He was a year older than she was and went to a school just twenty minutes from hers. It had been four weeks after their parents had started dating, and they had decided that the families should finally meet, since they were both serious about the relationship.

Zoe had tried her best, goodness knows she had, but the boy was as cold as ice. He wasn't mean or rude (Zoe would actually have preferred that), he just did not seem to care…about anything. Nothing fazed him and he never smiled. Ken had apologised afterwards, explaining that Tyler really was a good kid, but had never fully recovered from the loss of his mother.

Zoe glanced at her friends. They were now talking about some new game that had just been released, and how it was hard to complete. She sighed, taking another sip of her tea, figuring that they would be busy for another good ten minutes.

She wanted to get along with Tyler, she really did, but he made things so difficult. No matter how nice she was, or how hard she tried to get to know him, he would always find a way to brush her off. It seemed like he wanted her to hate him, and Zoe could not figure out why. These days, she tried less and less and spent most of her time ignoring him, because if she did not ignore him, she would end up fighting with him and that made her mom and Ken sad. They already had a tough time dealing with Tyler and his lack of emotions, and she did not want to add to their problems.

Zoe smiled while watching Takuya ruffle Tommy's hair, making the smaller boy pout and hastily try to fix it. He was regretting, not wearing his hat today.

"You know he doesn't like that." She said sternly.

"Oh, but he's so cute when he gets angry." Takuya cooed.

"Tch. Almost as cute as when he kicked your ass in that one-on-one soccer game, last Thursday." Koji drawled amusingly.

The table (minus Takuya) erupted in laughter and Takuya huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled. "It was only 2-1."

"Which is still one more than you got." Tommy said with a large grin, eager to make the most of this, after Takuya messed his hair.

"Awww...Is ickle Taki upset." J.P mocked, in the same baby voice Takuya had used on Tommy.

"Stop calling me that!" The brunet fumed.

Zoe giggled. She really did not know what she would do without her friends.

"I don't know why you bother Takuya." Koichi said with a sigh. "You know he wont ever stop."

"Well then, maybe I should just think up a really stupid nickname for him." Takuya replied shortly.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Koji smirked. "There isn't much you can do with J.P."

"Pity for you." J.P grinned, poking the brunet's ribs."...Taki."

* * *

Bokomon and Neemon hid amongst the ruins, of a recently demolished house, their hearts beating wildly. It had all happened so fast. One moment they had been planning on how to summon the children, and the next thing they knew, the castle had been under attack. In a matter of minutes, the dark soldiers that had been terrorizing their world for months had overrun the building. They were not true digimon, but rather data transformed to form a type of evil being that resembled humanoid armour, and now somehow, they had found a way past the castle's defences.

Unable to fight off the giant mass of strange yet powerful beings, the three Celestial digimon had given Bokomon the means, with which he could contact the humans. Bokomon could hear their parting words now, when they made the decision to sacrifice themselves.

_'The children are our only hope. You must tell them of our dire situation.' Seraphimon had said. 'We have underestimated this new foe greatly.'_

_'Though the spirits of the Legendary Warriors have passed on, there is still a way to connect with their essence.' Ophanimon had stated. 'We have given you all you need, in order to help the young ones on the difficult journey that lies ahead.'_

_'Guide the children. Help them find their way.'Cherubimon whispered. 'And maybe, our world will have a chance to be saved.'_

"Even though the future seems lost, there is still hope for us Neemon." Bokomon mumbled softly, holding a small box close to his chest.

"Do you really think we can reach them?" Neemon questioned. "Do ya Bokomon?"

"I'm not sure." The small, white digimon admitted quietly. "Nevertheless, we have to try. Our world depends on it."

* * *

**A/N: **Please review.

***I do know that Zoe and JP are only children in canon. Zoe's stepbrother and stepdad are Oc's that I created.


	3. Unspoken Interest and Shadows

**A/N: **Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to leave a review. It means a lot to me.

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**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Three: Unspoken Interest and Shadows**

* * *

"I'm home." Takuya called, entering the front door and closing it behind him with a soft snap. The group had parted ways after an enjoyable lunch and he had just returned from walking Tommy home. Even though the boy was thirteen and more then capable to walk himself, Takuya still shared a deep bond with the youngest member of their group and still viewed him as if he were his second brother-and speaking of brother's...

Takuya grinned evilly and headed towards the sitting room where he knew Shinya was currently residing, as he could hear the television blaring due to some intense action movie that was playing. Their father was at work and Takuya knew his mother never put the volume that loud, so it could only be one person...A person who had sabotaged his older brother's alarm clock that morning and needed to pay.

Approaching his younger sibling quietly, while he was too engrossed in the television to notice, Takuya raised his hands and then jumped upon the unsuspecting teen.

"What the hell! T-Takuya get off me, you idiot!"

Takuya pinned his surprised brother down quickly and stared down at him with narrowed eyes.

"How many times have I told you not to touch my alarm?"

Shinya's surprise and anger faded, replaced by a smug little smile.

"So you figured out it was me. I was wondering how long it would take, seeing as you left in a rush this morning."

Takuya rolled his eyes. He was dense at times (yes, even he could admit to that), but he was not stupid (even if some people thought he was) and after analysing the situation, he had realized what had happened and who the culprit was. The same person had been playing pranks on him throughout the whole vacation period.

"Obviously Squirt."

Shinya's hazel eyes darkened.

"Don't call me that!" He hissed.

"Why? You call me Taki whenever you feel like it." Takuya growled, remembering the day J.P had said that in front of his devious sibling and cursing his friend slightly. "I think it's only fair I get to call you Squirt, since you hate it as much as I hate my nickname."

Shinya sighed, knowing a lost battle when he saw one.

"Fine, whatever you say. Can you get off me now?"

Takuya smirked.

"Uh-uh...You still have to be punished for messing with my stuff."

"Oh really?" Shinya said, looking uninterested with the threat his brother was implying.

There was a moments silence as Takuya just stared down at his brother with a slight smirk playing on his lips, until said brother's eyes widened and a look of horror crossed his face.

"You wouldn't?"

Takuya just grinned.

"Justice must be served Squirt and you're in the perfect position to receive it."

Shinya started to wriggle and squirm, desperately attempting to break free of his older siblings hold, but making no progress.

"What are you two doing?"

Both boys' heads turned to the left, to find their mother standing there with a broom in her one hand and looking at them with a frown on her face.

"Takuya was going to spit on me." Shinya cried immediately, sensing a way to escape his predicament.

"Takuya Kanbara!"

Takuya glared at his younger brother and climbed off him reluctantly to face his mother.

"I wasn't going to spit on him." He declared indignantly and his mother crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"I was tickling him."

His mother stared at him for a while and then shook her head, turning to leave.

"I certainly hope so young man."

A few seconds passed with the two brother's just looking at each other-one feeling surprised that his mother had actually believed him and the other planning his escape-And suddenly Shinya was running, out the sitting room and down the passage that lead to his room.

"Yeah, you better run." Takuya shouted, taking after him. "Because if I catch you, not even mom will be able to prevent what I'm gonna do."

* * *

Koji walked quietly with one hand buried deep in his pockets and his brother right beside him. He sighed softly and ran his other hand through his dark locks.

"You're not still upset about your hair, are you?" Koichi asked, slightly exasperated.

Koji thought about it for a moment and then shrugged indifferently.

"Not really, I guess…"

"Is it because Zoe liked it?" Koichi asked with a small smirk in his twin's direction.

"No." Was the clipped reply.

"I saw the little conversation you two had while you were sulking."

"So?" Koji asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I was just wondering." He shrugged casually, while glancing sideways slyly. "I mean, you didn't care when I told you it looked okay-which by the way, wounds me since I'm your brother, but when Zoe said she liked it..."

"Whatever."

"I'm just saying." Koichi grinned.

Koji threw his brother a dark look, but otherwise said nothing to encourage any further discussions of the topic. So what if Zoe had cheered him up and said she liked his hair, it was not a big deal. He had been overreacting about his hair in the first place.

The raven huffed and continued walking.

Koichi chuckled and shook his head, but took the hint and let the subject slide. After all, he had seen Zoe's blush when Koji had thanked her and he knew the blond had feelings for his twin.

Smiling happily, as he placed his hands behind his head, Koichi decided he would let them work it out on their own. Then absolutely say 'I told you so' when they finally got together.

* * *

Zoe smiled fondly as she made her way towards her house and felt a gentle breeze waft past her. Even after all these years, she still held a deep connection with her bonded element, and she knew it was the same for her entire group. It was a fact they had appreciated greatly ever since returning from the Digital World- because who wouldn't want to feel connected to something that had changed their lives for the better and brought all of them together like a family. Each of them cherished these moments that brought remembrance and reminded them of what they had learned.

For Zoe, the slightest whisper of the wind made her happy and instantly brought a smile to her face. The feel of the sun or the flicker of a flame made Takuya's eyes dance. Tommy loved winter, capable of playing in the snow for hours or content to just sit and stare at it. J.P's fear for thunderstorms had vanished and they had now become one of his favourite things. Koichi was lucky, as he could sit in the shade of a tree or even close his eyes and feel close to his element.

When it came to Koji, things were a little bit difficult. It wasn't as simple as staring at a fluorescent light or the lamp in his bedroom. Those were artificial and did not even come close to representing the purity his element signified. For Koji, it was the sun rising and illuminating the day or the stars that decorated the night sky like shimmering jewels, something that reminded her of the way Koji's eyes lit up whenever he was happy...

Zoe paused before the front door and blushed at her train of thought. She really had to stop doing that, blushing at every little thought that concerned her indifferent friend.

_It's just a little crush, she reminded herself forcefully. Certainly not something to get excited about._

Eventually it would pass and Zoe would be able to get on with her life without ruining a perfectly good friendship. The golden blond smiled and nodded, happy to have reached an understanding even if part of her disagreed vehemently.

Sighing, she unlocked her front door and entered the house.

"Mom, I'm home." She announced, closing the door behind her. Zoe frowned when she heard no reply. Strange, her mother and Ken were usually home at this time.

Walking in to the kitchen, Zoe found a note stuck to the fridge.

_Zoe,_

_One of our suppliers for the flower shop could not deliver our order of roses, so Ken and I have gone to fetch the stock ourselves. We should be back tomorrow. I am sorry for not calling to let you know, as I understand you were out with your friends and I did not want to bother you. Love you lots and see you tomorrow._

_Mom (and Ken)._

Zoe smiled at the note and silently wished them luck. Ever since they had opened a new flower shop together, things had been tough, but by working hard, they were able to get past every hurdle. She put the paper down and headed to her room, stopping shortly at her door when she heard the music coming from the opposing bedroom.

Staring at the door of Tyler's room sadly, Zoe sighed and entered her own room. She just hoped they did not get in to a fight while their parents were not here. The blond did not have to be a fortune-teller to know, bad things would _definitely_ happen if they did.

* * *

A shadowed figure paced the floor of a large room with black, marble tiles and walls made of onyx crystal that twisted its way towards the ceiling in complicated swirls and spiralled designs. He sighed heavily and turned to face three separate crystal statues.

A humanoid being, wreathed entirely in flame, stood nearby watching the figures every move with careful attention.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried to be all noble, you know. All you had to do was tell me the whereabouts of the jewels and I would have left you alone." The figure whispered in harsh, crackling tones. "Such a simple request that ended up becoming complicated. Pity."

"My Lord, with the Celestial Beings imprisoned, how will we find what you are seeking now?"

The figure turned away from the crystallized statues slowly, a malicious grin forming on hidden features.

"Fear not Meramon. I have a plan and it will be revealed when the time is right."

The flame digimon bowed deeply and then departed.

The shadowed figure chuckled quietly as he turned back to face the statues, running a clawed hand over the frozen image of Ophanimon.

"You think your plan will succeed and those little rats will bring saviours to the Digital World, but I can assure you now that it wont my Lady...It most definitely wont."

* * *

**A/N: **Please review.


	4. The Message

**A/N: **Hey, I am so glad that there are people reading this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Four: The Message**

* * *

"And you're sure that's all we need to do?" A doubtful Gotsumon asked with a deep frown present upon his rock-like features.

"Well, that is how Lady Ophanimon explained it." Bokomon replied with a frown of his own. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but then again, he did not know what was supposed to happen. Bokomon had never attempted to summon anyone from the Human World, after all.

The white digimon sighed dejectedly.

"Ophanimon said that it is all about concentration. Using that data she gave me, I just have to focus on whom I want to send the message to and they will get it. Ophanimon said, everyone who is needed will retrieve our S.O.S. and we'll get some sort of answer."

"But how do you know for sure, if you got through?" Neemon questioned, looking puzzled while Gotsumon listened on intently.

Bokomon sighed once again.

"I don't know."

* * *

Takuya backed out of his younger brothers room as quietly as he could, and turned only to cover his mouth as a startled "eep!" broke through upon seeing his mother staring at him sternly with a broom and dustpan in her hands. The hazel-eyed teen also managed to see her foot tap insistently on the hardwood floor, which was a clear sign that she knew he was up to no good.

"Takuya. What were you doing in Shinya's room?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, voice neutral as she eyed her eldest son as though he had committed some unforgivable crime.

The now, very nervous brunet smiled innocently at his mother and shrugged with his hands up in the air.

"What ever do you mean?" He asked clearly, though on the inside he was practically choking on his anxiety. If she found out about what he had just done, he'd be so dead. No. Worse than dead. He would be grounded. If he were dead, then there would be no way for her to punish him. Therefore, death equalled freedom in his books.

"Hmmm, you're not answering my question young man." She stated calmly.

Takuya pouted at his mother's distrust, though; right now, she had every reason to suspect him of something. However, that did not mean he was going to tell her what awful deed he had come up with to exact revenge upon his devious little brother, who had instigated this prank war at the start of the holiday.

"Ah, come on mom. It pains me to know you have such little trust in your dear, love able, innocent son." He sighed dramatically for effect to the total lie he was spouting and added. "I was just asking if he wanted to come play soccer with me and the guys, but he's still asleep."

His mother shook her head and turned to leave.

"I hope you're not lying to me young man, or there will be consequences." She warned as she turned a corner and disappeared from view.

Takuya swiftly walked away with a relieved sigh. She was always overly distracted when she was cleaning…Which was a good thing for him.

He grinned as he thought of the little surprise he had left for Shinya, then remembered his mother's stern words and figured he should evacuate the house while he still could-and while his mother was still blissfully unawares of his present to his little brother.

On the way out the door, his phone beeped.

* * *

J.P sighed heavily. He was currently sitting in the park, on one of the numerous benches...all by himself. He sighed again.

This was how it always happened. They would make plans for a certain time and to meet in a certain place, and in the end, he'd still have to wait for everyone else to show up. After all these years, you would have thought he had learned something by now, but no...Here he was, on time, and there was no one else in sight. Like always.

The seventeen-year old huffed and crossed his arms. At least yesterday had been different, since he had been the one to fetch Tommy from his house, but then again, it was not a regular occurrence so it didn't really matter in the end.

"Hey J.P!"

The auburn-haired boy turned to find Tommy heading towards him, smiling happily and holding a rather worn, well-used soccer ball under his arm. He was wearing dark beige shorts with a silver chain connected to two on the loops, usually used to hold a belt in place, and a white T-shirt edged with light green, along with matching green and orange sneakers and white socks-the customary large (and favourite) hat seemed to have been forgotten today.

J.P frowned when he realized the younger boy was on his own.

"Did you walk here by yourself?

"No _Dad._" Tommy said with a roll of his eyes. "Yutaka gave me a lift while on his way to work."

J.P nodded while internally sighing with relief. In the last four years, someone had always picked Tommy up from his house whenever they had plans to hang out, and then walked him home afterwards. Though the boy was now a teenager and more than capable of looking after himself, he would always be the youngest of the group...So, they couldn't help feeling slightly protective (especially when it came to Takuya) and old habits seemed to die-hard.

"How long you been waiting?"

J.P shrugged at the question, while Tommy took a seat on the bench.

"Ten, maybe twenty minutes."

Tommy laughed.

"I don't know why you still arrive on time. You know everyone else wont."

J.P sighed. This conversation seemed familiar.

"There's Koji and Koichi. "Tommy suddenly exclaimed and sure enough, the two twins soon joined them.

"Hey."

Greetings were exchanged until the group fell silent and Koji sighed.

"And now we wait for Takuya...As per usual."

"Hey! You don't always have to wait for me." The boys all turned to find the brunette approaching with an offended scowl on his face and his hands thrust deep in to the pockets of his black, baggy 3/4 pants.

"Oh no, of course not." Koji said with a roll of his dark blue eyes. "We just wait for you ninety percent of the time...Plus ten."

"Exactly, so it's not all the time." Takuya declared, obviously missing the meaning behind his friends sentence, while the others (who had not) laughed loudly.

Takuya blinked and than glared at his so-called-best-friend.

"Hahaha, very funny Emo-boy."

"So, what's the excuse this time?" Koichi asked, while both his brother and Takuya attempted to glare holes in to the others head.

Takuya reluctantly turned away from his heated stare contest-causing Koji to smirk as this signalled a victory for him-and explained how he had spent most of the morning, gluing Shinya's PSP to the ceiling of his bedroom.

"Should I even ask why?" J.P inquired.

"He's been playing tricks on me all holiday." Takuya said with a casual shrug. "Considering how much he values his PSP, I doubt the pranks will continue after today."

Just then, Takuya's phone beeped and he glanced at the screen before groaning.

"What's up?" Tommy asked, concerned, while the others looked curious.

"Nothing important, I just keep getting these blank messages." Takuya muttered irritably and held the phone out so everyone could see.

Koji frowned and pulled out his own phone, comparing both devices before saying.

"Must be a glitch in the system, because I got one too."

Takuya glanced at the raven's phone and saw the same blank message that he had received his own device.

_How strange..._

Then, both phones suddenly beeped.

"Oh come on...It's the same damn message again!" Takuya shouted in frustration.

* * *

Bokomon frowned.

_It should not be this hard. It is as if something was repelling my efforts..._

"I don't think you're doing it right." Gotsumon stated blandly and Neemon remained silent.

"Hush! I'm trying to concentrate." Bokomon whispered harshly and closed his eyes, taking an internal breath, before re-attempting his task. He focused on the children and thought about how vital this mission was and suddenly, something felt different.

He opened his eyes and smiled in relief.

"Finally..."

* * *

_"Finally..."_

The boys all stood in silence and stared at the two phones, one held by Koji and the other by Takuya.

"Is it just me, or did you all just hear that too?" Takuya asked. The shocked or otherwise surprised expressions, answered the brunets question.

"Never mind."

* * *

Bokomon jumped up and down happily at his success, but quickly sobered up when he realized he had very little time. The data Ophanimon had given them was rather small, so he only had a few minutes at most, in which to speak.

"Digi-destined, this is Bokomon...if you can hear me, please listen closely. We are in grave need of your assistance..."

* * *

_"...Our world is slowly being corrupted and overtaken by a dark and powerful force...We thought*Crackle**we could handle it, but the Celestial council was overpowered and have been imprisoned...There is no one els-Tzzz-else we can-Tzzz-for help. You*Crackle*are-Tzzzz-only hope...Go to Shibuya station like before*Crackle*A trailmon will be waiting for you-Please help-Tzzz-We need you..."_

All the boys exchanged glances.

"Well, the answers kinda obvious." Koji said, the first to break the silence and Koichi nodded.

"We help." Tommy answered simply and this time, J.P nodded. They all looked to Takuya, their leader, whose hazel eyes were blazing.

"Yeah." He said. "However, there's one thing we need to do first."

"What?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, what could be more important than saving our second home?" J.P demanded and Takuya grinned.

"Well, we have to let Z know what's up."

Koji smirked and elbowed the older boy in the ribs.

"Unless you plan on having an adventure without her."

J.P paled.

"Hell no! She'd kill me if we left her out, especially when it concerns something as important as this."

"So what are we waiting for?" Koichi stated. "From what I heard, it doesn't seem like we have much time."

Takuya nodded and began dialling Zoe's number.

* * *

Zoe hummed quietly as she set about making her breakfast, while listening to the morning news announcements over her small portable radio.

Ever since the events four years ago, she had become a rather accomplished cook and prided her abilities at creating food that actually tasted great-or at least, that is what her friends told her whenever she had a chance to cook for them (and seeing, as they were boys, this happened often). Said friends had arranged to meet today and play soccer, and though Zoe was invited, she wanted to stay at home and clean up for her mom and Ken, who would be returning that night. Zoe silently wondered if she should also make dinner tonight, as she highly doubted either of them would feel like cooking after such a long drive...

A clicking sound from the kettle disrupted her thoughts and told her that the water had finally finished boiling. The blond was pouring steaming water in to a previously prepared mug (complete with tea bag and two spoons of sugar), when one of the subjects broadcast over the radio caught her attention...

_"...And on to a story that has touched every mother's heart throughout Japan in the last week; a determined Mitaka Yasutora- classical musician/singer and wife of the world-renowned businessman, Kosuke Yasutora, is still determined to locate her ten-year old son Shin, who went missing last week without a trace...Though the police have put their heart and soul in to tracking and finding the child, his whereabouts are still unknown, his disappearance being a mystery in it's self...One can only imagine how devastated the family must be..."_

"How sad..." Zoe murmured, feeling sorry for the parents and silently praying that the little boy was all right. Zoe knew of the Yasutora family, mainly because she used some of Mitaka Yasutora's music (the woman was a genius when it came to playing the piano and a violin) in her gymnastic routines. Kosuke Yasutora was also rather well known as he ran a very successful business that dealt in architecture.

Zoe sighed. It must be frightening, to not know where your child is or even if he is still alive. Thankfully, she had never had to put her own Mother through that experience, seeing as her trip to the Digital World (though it was weeks for her and the others) was actually a few minutes in the Human World. Zoe would have hated to cause her Mother pain, even if her journey had been unintentional and unexpected-

"Damn!" Zoe hissed and set down the kettle quickly, realizing she had spaced out while pouring _hot_ water in to a rather small container. Said water had overflowed, burning her fingers that had been pressed against the cups handle, making her jump and causing the cup to fall to the floor where it instantly shattered.

Eyeing the mess and cursing herself inwardly for not concentrating, Zoe knelt down careful to avoid the water- and began picking up the pieces of broken china.

"And to think, today was starting so well." She muttered, focusing on all the big pieces before she tackled the smaller, more difficult fragments and berating herself for being so clumsy. "And it had to be my favourite cup too-Ahh Hell!"

Zoe suddenly dropped all the glass she had managed to clear and watched as crimson liquid seeped from the scratch on her palm and dripped in to the puddle of water inches below. The cut stung as she stood to clean it and find a band-aid, but a familiar figure in the kitchen doorway, made her pause.

"Um..." Zoe found herself speechless and frozen, as her green eyes connected with that of her red headed stepbrother, wearing his standard attire of long charcoal grey pants, with numerous pockets and a plain white T-shirt. His grey-blue orbs (so similar to his fathers), swept impassively over the kitchen (lingering briefly on her injured hand) and then he surprised her by reaching for a broom, that was standing next to the door.

All the blond girl could do was stare wide-eyed as he started to clean up the mess, until something in her snapped and she regained her ability to move and speak. Pushing past the slightly older teen, she grabbed the broom from his hands and ignored the fleeting expression of surprise (or was it tension?) as she addressed him.

"I don't recall asking for your help, nor do I need it." She said firmly, wincing as the broom's handle grated against her scratched hand and blood dripped down it slowly. "It's my mess and my problem." Maybe Zoe sounded a little bit cold, but inwardly she was having a mild panic attack and if anyone who understood the situation had just seen what had happened, he or she would not really blame her.

This was the boy who went out of his way to ignore her or treated her as if she was part of the scenery. The same boy who barely ever used more than five words in a sentence and treated her mom with strained civility that seemed to border on polite indifference...And here he was trying to help her. It did not seem natural.

Tyler's one eyebrow rose and Zoe underwent several minutes of feeling uncomfortable due to his stare until he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm going out." He informed her flatly and just like that, the cold persona made a hasty return.

Zoe watched him leave and then turned back towards the glass, water and blood that decorated the tiled floor, before sighing.

Her phone suddenly rang, signalling an incoming call. She sighed and went to retrieve it, thinking it was probably her mom or one of the boys. Zoe opened the device and answered.

"Hey Takuya-" Zoe paused and frowned. "Wait, slow down, I can't understand a word you're saying Takuya. Breathe-Breathe slowly...Takuya, put someone else on the phone-Yes, put Koji on the phone."

Zoe stood in silence for a few moments until the phone had exchanged hands and Takuya's erratic voice was replaced by Koji's calm and collected one.

"Okay, what was that energizer bunny going on about?" She asked seriously and while the boy answered her question, she felt herself frown. "What do blank messages have to do with it?"

Zoe's frown increased as she continued to listen to what the raven had to say, until her breath hitched and the broom she was holding, fell to the floor.

"No way, are you serious?" She whispered. "Alright, I'll meet you all there."

Meanwhile, all across Japan, numerous others had received the same message and heard the same cry for help. Most shrugged it off as some stupid prank, some figured it was a glitch...While others felt a strange sense of duty envelope their entire being. They did not understand neither the feeling nor why they felt like it was extremely important for them to be at Shibuya station. All they knew was that something was calling out to them and they needed to make a decision...Either answer the call, or spend the rest of their life wondering what might have happened.

Bokomon sighed and fell to the ground with Neemon quickly racing to his side.

"It's done...I think they got the message." He said.

"So, now we wait." Gotsumon inquired.

"And hope they arrive before our entire world is lost." Bokomon finished.

* * *

A flame-covered figure entered a dimly lit chamber and a shadow turned to face him.

"What is it now, Meramon?" It questioned in its deep, crackling tone.

"Something broke through your barrier, my Lord, near Flame Terminal. Someone was able to make contact with the Human World."

There was silence for a while and then the shadow began to chuckle ominously, and he turned towards the three statuesque figures that stood near his throne.

"Well, well. It seems that I underestimated your powers." He whispered darkly. "Or maybe it was sheer dumb luck that provided you with this glimmer of hope...However, there's no need to get excited. I'll snuff out whatever threatens my plans like a candle..."

The Shadow turned away looking thoughtful.

Someone had found a way through his barrier of dark energy, which currently coated the entire Digital World like an invisible shield...A mistake soon to be corrected...

"Meramon...Assemble the Shadow Forces. I want any digimon around that village...Eliminated."

* * *

**A/N: **Please review...It gives me inspiration.

**** Tyler's hairstyle and colour were inspired by Sasori from Naruto.


	5. Parted Choices

**A/N: **I am sorry this is a little later than planned. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Five: Parted Choices**

* * *

Zoe re-read the note she had written, making sure it did not sound too strange. After all, she would be returning to the Digital World and even though the concept of time was different, there was no telling how long she would be gone. It could be twenty minutes or even hours.

_Tyler,_

_Something important came up and I needed to sort it out. Will be home as soon as I can, and please do not worry if you cannot reach me._

_Zoe._

Simple. To the point. No emotional value whatsoever. Zoe nodded slightly. It would do. It was not like Tyler would care anyway, and besides, the note was more for her conscience than for her stepbrother's peace of mind.

Hating to linger any longer than necessary, Zoe left the house and locked the door. She was meeting the boys at Shibuya station and they would be mad if she was late.

* * *

Koji let out an exasperated sigh as he buried his hands deeper in to the pockets of his dark, navy blue jacket, that was left unbuttoned to reveal a white T-shirt and whose long sleeves were casually rolled up to his elbows. A black and grey bandanna hung loosely around his neck.

Next to him, Takuya was shifting continuously from side to side in frustration and cursing under his breath, making it appear as though he desperately needed to find a bathroom...Or hit someone.

"Would you cut that out?" The dark-haired teen suddenly hissed, his patience with the brunet finally reaching its limit.

"No!" Takuya hissed back, though in a somewhat louder fashion, causing a few people to stare at him with raised eyebrows while he ranted. "This line is moving way too slow for my liking and I'm going crazy just standing here, so why don't you leave me to my fidgeting thank you very much."

Koji rolled his eyes and sighed quietly.

_Seriously. This is insane. _

Takuya had been calm and mellow when they had first received Bokomon's S.O.S, but once they had contacted Zoe, his demeanour had changed faster than the weather, and he had quickly gone from levelheaded to wild and erratic. Now, they were currently standing in a line to buy tickets so they could get to Shibuya station, with the brunet steadily growing more agitated by the minute.

Koji sighed once again as the teen next to him let out another soft curse. It was times like these that made the raven wonder, why and how exactly Takuya became their team's leader. He had patience the size of a matchstick.

"This is taking forever!" The brunet whined, while Koji did his best to ignore his irate friend's tirade.

"I mean really, this queue is moving slower than a pensioner taking their Sunday stroll."

An older woman standing in front, glared over her shoulder with narrowed eyes, probably having heard Takuya's comment and taking offence. Takuya, rather than feel guilty and humbly apologize for his rudeness, simply huffed and returned the glare.

"What lady? You know it's true." He snapped.

Koji shook his head slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose, mentally counting to ten.

"Look Takuya." He eventually said, fixing his friend with level glare of his own. "Either shut up and behave, or you can go stand with the others while I buy the tickets. Besides, it is not like last time when we had a time limit. So do me a favour, stop acting like a child and pull yourself together."

Not even bothering to wait for a reply or worried that his speech had been too harsh, Koji turned away and went back to staring at the people in front of him while he watched the other boy from the corner of his eye. Takuya spent several minutes glaring heatedly at the floor as if it had done him some personal wrong, and then he sighed heavily crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sorry man. I guess my concern is getting the best of me."

Koji just nodded. A sign that he accepted the brunet's apology.

"I just feel like we shouldn't be wasting time if the Digital World needs our help."

"I know what you mean Takuya, but it cannot be helped. It's not like we can run all the way to Shibuya station and even if we could, we would still have to wait once we got there because we're meeting up with Zoe."

Takuya nodded slowly, while saying. "I suppose the best thing to do, is try getting there as fast as we possibly can."

The next few minutes passed by in silence and Koji reflected that even though his friend could be total idiot when duty called, there were still definite reasons why he was the one in charge. Takuya possessed the qualities of a great leader; courage, loyalty, determination and passion...He just wouldn't be Takuya if he was not painfully oblivious most of the time or hyperactive active to a serious fault...Koji guessed that every one came with their good qualities...Along with their flaws.

"_So_, I heard Zoe likes your hair."

Koji blinked and turned to stare at the brunet.

"Huh?" Was his intelligent reply.

A devious grin formed on Takuya's face.

"Koichi was telling us earlier, how Zoe apparently likes your hair."

"So?" Koji asked nonchalantly, not really getting where this was leading to and Takuya just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

"Just wondering." He began vaguely. "I mean, since Z and I never worked out, I figured that it's probably because _you_ are more her type."

All Koji could do was stare, his mind trying to absorb what his best friend was implying.

It was no secret that Takuya and Zoe had gone on a date; she had made a promise after all. It was also no secret that they had both come to a mutual agreement to have a relationship that never went beyond friendship...They had said that whatever spark they had felt in the Digital World, had long since moved on and neither was bothered by this fact in the least.

Now Takuya was suggesting that she might actually like him, which was stupid because he (Koji Minamoto) had to be the biggest social retard around even if he did have a few friends-having a girlfriend would be like the punch line of a really good joke...And besides, Koji didn't even like Zoe in that way. Yeah she was pretty (Hell that was an understatement. Beautiful would be the correct term), intelligent and so vastly different from every other girl the raven had ever known, but he didn't really see her in a romantic light-did he? She was a good friend, and even if he did possess feelings for the golden-haired girl (keyword being 'if'), there was no way she liked him as more than a friend. Takuya was reading excessively, into what had merely been a compliment from one friend to another in order to make them feel better.

"Tch. I've always been worried about that fragile grasp you seem to have on your mind, Kanbara." Koji deadpanned, turning away. "Seems like you've finally lost it."

Takuya scowled at the raven.

"I'm perfectly sane thank you." He growled and then huffed quietly. "Besides, I really do think Z likes you."

"Yeah. Whatever."

"I'm serious." The brunet insisted. "You should see how she blushes every time you call her 'Zo', plus there's the fact that you're the only one who even calls her that."

Koji frowned slightly. Was he really the only one who called her by that? Its not as if it meant much, just an affectionate nickname for a friend...Koji mentally cringed.

_Affectionate nickname?_ _That had sounded so sappy._

"Everyone can see it. It's like the most obvious thing in the world."

"Drop it Takuya."

"Why?" The brunet questioned in a teasing manner. "Is it because _you_ like Zoe."

Koji felt himself turning pink, but he avoided his friends gaze.

"No." He replied shortly. "Just drop it. I don't think Zoe would appreciate us talking about whatever feelings she may or may not have."

Takuya frowned and eyed his friend curiously, but let the topic slide for now and turned to face the front of the line.

"I really do wish we could make this line speed up."

Koji sighed and rolled his eyes.

* * *

Half an hour later, the group was hurrying towards the familiar elevator that would take them down towards the unknown levels of the train station, where a Trailmon would surely be waiting for them to arrive.

"I'm glad that I get to go to the Digital World in a normal way this time." Koichi commented idly as they stepped inside the small elevator, looking quite the opposite from his darkly attired brother in long cream slacks, a long-sleeved red shirt and short-sleeved black over shirt. "Much better than falling down a flight of stairs."

Koji grimaced but said nothing about his twin's coma or how they'd almost lost him four years ago. "Yeah. I'm glad too."

Koichi gave his brother a light nudge and they both shared a small smile. A simple form of communication they used to comfort one another without the use of words. Takuya yawned loudly and placed his arms behind his head, much to J.P's irritation as the brunets elbow jabbed his right eye.

"Last time I travelled down this, I had to put up with an anti-social moron." He said with a large grin in Koji's direction.

"Yeah, well I had to put up with a clumsy idiot." The raven replied.

Koichi, J.P and Tommy sighed, shaking their heads as an argument evolved-quite a common recurrence when it came to these two.

"That's rich coming from the guy who tripped while walking up the stairs. What, are the school's steps too challenging for you?"

"Oh, go take a long walk off a short bridge, Kanbara. At least I'm not the idiot that ran into a glass door."

"Is it my fault my Mother never put the stickers up and happens to be a serial cleaner."

The elevator continued it's rapid descent and soon came to a jarring halt. J.P, having grown tired of the endless bickering, turned to shut them up as the doors slid open.

"Enough." The older boy declared sternly."Koji's not anti-social, he's just socially inept." Takuya was smiling widely while Koji stuffed his hands in his pockets moodily. "And Takuya's not clumsy-"

"Damn right!" The brunet exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.

"-He's vertically challenged." J.P finished.

"Hey! That's just another way of calling me short."

"Well Takuya." Tommy began reasonably as they filed out of the cramped lift. "Technically you are the shortest and even I'm beginning to catch up to you."

Takuya grumbled some unintelligible reply. So he was _slightly _shorter than the others were, he still was not what people would consider short when it came to the majority of the male species. Sighing heavily, he looked up to find not one, but two Trailmon's present. The closest was big, bulky and a burnt-red sort of colour, and Takuya knew it was called Worm. The one further from the elevator, was a lot sleeker and bright blue, with a funny sort of antenna in the front. Takuya knew that one's name was Angler.

"So, now we know this isn't some kind of strange dream." J.P announced cheerfully. "We are actually going back to the Digi-World."

"Yeah." Koichi agreed, very new to this whole Trailmon experience, or at least when it came to entering the parallel world. "But which one do we get on?"

Tommy stepped forward and frowned thoughtfully.

"I don't think it really matters which one we pick. They both ultimately go to the same place."

"That's not entirely true." Koji murmured. "Last time, I was on a separate train from you guys and even though we went to the same place, I ended up in a totally different part."

"He's right." Takuya said. "Well if we have to make a decision, then I vote for Worm."

"Worm it is." J.P said. "And he's the closest one."

They all agreed and went to stand by the large red train.

"Wonder when Z will get here?" Koichi asked and glanced at his wristwatch.

"Well, she should be here soon." Takuya answered. "Let's get onboard while we wait for her."

If they had known what would happen next, neither of the boys would have gone along with the suggestion. As soon as the last person (which was Koichi), had stepped over the threshold, the door snapped shut and they all felt the train begin to move forward.

"What the hell is going on?" Takuya yelled, grabbing hold of the door's handle to stop himself from falling over. "Hey! You stupid hunk of junk. Stop!"

Instead of being angry for being insulted, they all heard the worm-type Trailmon calmly reply.

"Everyone who needs to be onboard is accounted for."

There was a moment of silence while the boys digested this piece of information.

"I guess Zoe is already here." Koji finally said. "She must have arrived before us and had the same idea to wait on the train."

"Let's go find her then." Tommy exclaimed and entered the train's compartment. The boys all came to a standstill. There were two girls seated there, but neither of them were Zoe.

* * *

Zoe leaned against the inside of the elevator, breathing heavily. She had run all the way from the bus stop, seeing as she had missed the train to Shibuya and would have had to catch the next one, twenty minutes later. That had been unacceptable and she decided to make alternate plans. Thus making it the reason why she was currently out of breath and felt as if her lungs were on fire.

The blond fervently hoped the boys had had better luck than she did.

The lift finally came to a stop and the double-doors chimed open. Zoe stepped in to the circular room, half hoping to see the boys all standing there, but the room was empty save for one lone train.

"Maybe I got here before them. Or maybe they're already on the train." Zoe questioned aloud, carefully approaching the large blue machine that she knew to be an actual digimon. She glanced back at the elevator before pulling open the train's door and taking a small hesitant step inside.

Suddenly the door snapped shut behind her and the train lurched, causing her to fall forward into a rather unflattering position.

Zoe groaned and climbed to her feet.

"At least I'm not wearing a skirt this time." She mumbled, thankful that she had chosen to wear a sensible pair of indigo-coloured cargo pants this morning and not the tiny black mini-skirt, as she had originally wanted.

Giving herself one last glance to make sure the fall had not caused any damage, Zoe then went and opened the door that led into one of the many compartments.

"I really hope the guys are on this train."

* * *

**A/N: **Last chapter in the human world (for now). Please review.


	6. Far From Home

**A/N: **This chapter was difficult to write and it is not one of my favourites, however necessary it may be. I hope that it turned out all right...It is also the longest chapter so far and they are only going to get longer.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Six: Far From Home**

* * *

"Who do you think they are?" Tommy whispered, though he addressed no one in particular.

The train had been in motion for almost ten minutes, but they were all still standing outside the compartment, none of them having attempted to enter just yet due to the two unknown girls and the fact that they did not know where the final member of their group was.

"Maybe Bokomon's message reached others besides us." J.P answered with a slight shrug. "After all, it did sound like they were just broadcasting and hoping for the best, not actually trying to pinpoint our location specifically-almost as if something was not letting them…Chances are, that plenty of people could have got the message."

"Yeah, that does make sense since only Takuya and Koji received the message out of our entire group, but why?" Koichi asked with a confused frown. "Not to sound arrogant or anything, but they aren't really needed."

"It could be a mistake." Takuya murmured thoughtfully, thinking about Worm's earlier words- _Everyone who needs to be onboard, is accounted for-_."Then again, it might not. Maybe they are meant to be here just like we were meant to be here four years ago."

The boys fell silent and turned to stare at the girls who had yet to notice they had additional company. The first girl had light brown shoulder-length hair (cut in an edgy sort of style) and sapphire blue eyes, as well as pulling off a rather tomboyish look, dressed in navy hot pants, a light blue and white striped vest with white boots. The second girl appeared to be more feminine with russet-coloured hair tied up with a bright pink ribbon and honey-coloured eyes. She wore a short hot pink dress with a red half jacket and gold wedge sandals.

"What do you think, Koji?" Takuya asked turning to face the raven, as he was the only one to have not said anything since the train had begun to move.

Koji shrugged lightly, his impassive expression turning contemplative.

There could be many reasons why other people were present besides them, each of those reasons probably as unlikely as the next. Just like there could be many reasons why there were two trains at the station instead of just one, or why only Takuya and himself received the message and none of the others did. Koji answered in the best way he could, given everything he knew.

"Until we actually find out what's going on in the Digital World, I think we should just take things as the come for now." He said carefully. "There's not much else we can do."

"Always the calculative and logical one. I knew there was a reason why we kept you around." Takuya said with a sly grin. Koji glared at him but otherwise chose not to comment.

"What about Zoe?" J.P asked sounding concerned.

"I don't think she's on this train." Takuya said quietly after a few moments of collective silence. "I mean, she'd probably be in this compartment if she was, don't you think? And if she was on this train, we definitely would have met up with her by now."

"Yeah." Tommy agreed with a nod. "Maybe she's on the other train?"

"It's possible." Koji said. "But just like the current state of the Digital World and these two girls, we cant know that for sure."

"We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that Z is on the other train." Takuya said, not really liking that they did not know much but understanding that there was no point in stressing over it.

"Now that we've got that all out of the way." Koichi began, drawing all attention his way. "And as fun as it is to stand in doorways, can we please go inside already?"

Takuya nodded and stepped into the compartment, closely followed by the rest of the group. The girls turned at the sound of them entering, finally realizing they were no longer alone.

"What, did you all get a weird message as well?" The one dressed in blue asked abruptly, her sapphire gaze drifting over each of them in turn. The girl beside her blushed slightly and avoided their eyes entirely.

Takuya rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to respond. How exactly did you go about telling two complete strangers, that they were heading to a world which was practically unknown to all but a few of the human population, and that there would probably be something dangerous going on when they arrived?

Answer; you did not. They would probably think him and his friends were utterly insane. Takuya knew that was how he felt when they first discovered the Digital World.

"Something along those lines." He heard J.P mumble and saw the older boy glance at him and mouth 'What do we tell them?'

Takuya inwardly groaned. This was one of the many downsides to being the leader; everyone looked to him to lead the way (well, duh since he was the leader, but he didn't always have the answers, so that kinda put him in a tough spot if his friends always expected him to know what to do). Takuya also noticed that Koji was smirking, and guessed that the raven knew exactly what his current thoughts were and found them rather amusing.

"Yeah, we got the message." He said, glaring slightly in Koji's direction and deciding to go with the flow for now. He concluded that it would be best if the girls saw where they were going for themselves and then he and the others could explain once they got there.

"And you decided to come, even though you have no clue what this is all about?" The girl questioned firmly. Takuya grinned while he and the rest of the guys all took a seat.

"Same thing could be said about you and your friend."

The girl smirked.

"Touché."

"I'm Takuya Kanbara." He added.

"Yoshiko Nagata." The blue-eyed girl replied.

Takuya then turned to introduce the rest.

"The small one is Tomoki Himi-."

"But you can call me Tommy." The thirteen year old interrupted while glaring at Takuya for the short comment. Takuya simply rolled his eyes and continued.

"The twins are Koji Minamoto and Koichi Kimura. You can tell them apart easily because Koichi smiles a lot and Koji never does."

Ignoring one raven's heated stare and the others muffled laughter; Takuya introduced the final member of their group.

"And the big guy is J.P Shibayama." J.P grinned and waved cheerfully.

"Pleased to meet you." Yoshiko answered politely.

"And you are?" Koichi asked turning to the girl dressed in pink, as she had remained silent during the entire exchange.

"C-Caede Hiwatari." She stammered and then blushed furiously when she saw they were all looking at her.

Koichi smiled at her shyness. "It's nice to meet you."

"Y-Yeah." Caede blushed again and went back to staring at anything besides them.

"Don't mind her." Yoshiko said with a slightly amused roll of her eyes. "Caede's rather shy but she's nice once she gets comfortable. We've been friends since the sandbox, so I should know."

Silence quickly descended upon the group. Now that the introductions had been made, it seemed as though no one could think of anything to say.

"Hey J.P…Do you have any chocolate, because I'm really hungry?" Takuya suddenly asked rather loudly causing Caede to flinch a little.

"No Taki. Sorry." Was the reply while Koji mentally rolled his eyes and started counting down from ten, wondering just how long it would take before Takuya exploded.

"Damn, that sucks-Hey, wait! What did you call me?"

Koji smirked faintly. That had not taken long at all.

"What, Taki?" J.P questioned.

Takuya glared at the older teen. "Don't."

"Don't what?" J.P asked, cultivating an image of feigned innocence.

"Don't call me that."

"Awww, but I like calling you that." The seventeen-year old whined and after a moments silence, added. "Taki."

"That's it!" The brunet roared. The two boys fell to the floor, with J.P laughing and Takuya attempting to make him apologise.

Koji sighed but said nothing and continued to stare out the window into the constant blackness they were passing, having not yet reached the end of the tunnel. Tommy and Koichi just shook their heads while the two girls stared at the figures wrestling by their feet.

"Is this a frequent thing?" Yoshiko eventually asked, her blue eyes narrowed and fixed on Takuya, who had been subdued by a widely grinning J.P (which was a give-in and something all the boys had seen coming, as J.P was much larger than their hot-headed friend).

"Pretty much." Koji drawled in a jaded manner, his dark eyes still fixed upon the scenery outside the window, while they continued glide along the tunnel. On the floor, Takuya huffed as J.P let him go and both boys returned to their seats.

"Stupid nickname." The brunet mumbled and crossed his arms.

"I don't get what the big deal is, it's just a name." Yoshiko said, tilting her head slightly to the left. "And kinda cute."

Takuya blushed furiously while glaring at his friends, who were unsuccessfully attempting to stop themselves from laughing.

"It is not." He declared, letting out an irritable huff. "And you'd have a problem too, if they started calling you something stupid, like…like Yo-Yo."

"Did you know that your ears turn red when you get embarrassed?" The blue-eyed girl asked, looking unfazed and somewhat amused.

Takuya just groaned and buried his face in his hands, while the laughter of his friends rose.

This was going to be a long train ride, he thought miserably...Especially with them all making fun of him. It was a damn conspiracy!

* * *

Zoe made her way through countless compartments, steadily growing more irritated with each empty one she entered.

"This train cant be empty!" She hissed, her green eyes flashing with annoyance and mild despair. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered mockingly to her and the golden blond found herself doubting her own statement.

_What if it was empty and she truly was the only occupant?_

"And if that's true." She found herself whispering aloud. "Where are the boys?"

Zoe stopped walking and sat down on the edge of a chair with a heavy sigh, while burying her face in her hands.

_They had to be here, but if they weren't…_

Zoe felt panic form within her. What was she going to do? Why was she the only one here? Would she be able to handle whatever was ailing the Digital World, all on her own? Zoe sighed once again. She didn't think that she could, not without any help.

The golden blond sat in silence for what seemed like a very long time, lost in her many thoughts and concerns. After a moment, she stood up and smoothed the creases in her pants.

"No point in getting all worked up about this." She whispered to herself merely to break the silence. "I've only checked half the train, and for all I know, the boys could be somewhere in the front."

Invigorated by this tiny bit of hope, Zoe opened the door to the next compartment and began making her way through it, just as she had been doing before with all the others. She had passed through three more carriages when her hope started to waver slightly, doubts from before re-entering her mind and causing her stop walking.

"Just a few more." She assured herself and walked towards the next door. Before she even had it halfway open, the sound of crying reached her ears along with a calm voice gently comforting whoever was sobbing.

_That voice sounds familiar_, Zoe thought in surprise, but there was no way that he could be here. Curious and a little apprehensive, Zoe opened the door completely and gasped softly, garnering the immediate attention of all who inhabited the compartment.

"Zoe?" Tyler questioned, more than surprised to see his stepsister standing before him.

Zoe felt shock flood her system at the sight of Tyler, but then she caught sight of the small boy seated next to him, who had tears streaking down his face and she became distracted by his sad appearance. The blond was instantly reminded of Tommy during their first trip to the Digital World and it brought a sharp pain to her heart. He was so small and didn't look like he was any older than eight or nine.

"You know her?" A girl with pale pink hair asked and Tyler simply nodded.

"Well, who is she?" A guy with dark brown hair and green eyes asked impatiently.

Tyler didn't answer, but kept his grey eyes fixed on Zoe who didn't seem to hear the questions. Her sea green eyes were fixed upon the young boy he had been trying to comfort and contained a far away look that made him think she was remembering something. Suddenly, she flinched and seemed to snap out of whatever she had been thinking, her eyes softening. Tyler watched as she walked towards him and knelt beside the small boy, putting a hand on his knee to gain his attention.

"Hi there." Zoe murmured softly and the boys grey eyes flicked to her briefly before travelling back to the floor, fresh tears forming. Unfazed by the lack of response, the blond girl took a seat beside him.

"What's your name?" She asked. "My name is Zoe."

Tyler mentally rolled his eyes. He had already tried that, but the boy refused to speak. The child had been crying ever since the train had started moving, and probably even before that. Therefore, the redhead was more than surprised when he heard the young boy answer in a somewhat shaky voice.

"H-Haru. Haru I-I-Ishida."

Zoe smiled and Tyler felt slightly irritated that she had managed to do something when he could not. However, he kept his expression neutral and simply moved a few inches away, seeing, as he was not needed any longer.

"And how old are you, Haru?"

"N-Nine."

"Can you tell me why you're crying?"

The boy sniffed. "I got lost."

"And somehow ended up on the train without wanting to." Zoe then said and the boy nodded.

"I w-was just t-trying to get back to my Mom." The boy stammered, rubbing at his eyes. "W-We got s-separated when her p-phone started acting funny."

"Don't be scared." Zoe told him gently, but curious about what had occurred with his mother's cellphone."Where we're going, isn't so bad, and you'll be back with your Mom before you have time to blink."

"A-Alright." Haru smiled hesitantly and nodded. He was still scared and didn't really understand what was going on, but Zoe sounded kind and she had treated him nicely, just as the redheaded boy had tried to do as well. Haru now felt a little bad for ignoring the older boy, but resolved to apologise the first chance he got and to say thank you.

"Wait a minute. You know where this stupid train is going?"

Zoe looked up at the tall guy who had spoken, suddenly remembering there were others here as well. She felt Haru flinch next to her and instantly wrapped a protective arm around his small shoulders.

The guy had dark brown hair that was tied back (almost the same as Koji's had once been, but much longer and accompanied by no bandanna) and greyish green eyes. He was wearing a light grey sleeveless shirt and dark blue jeans, and had black wristbands on both his arms. Next to him stood the girl with pale pink hair the colour of cherry blossoms, pulled into a messy bun and soft amber eyes. She wore brown shorts and a beige shirt with a pale pink duster over it.

"I'm Zoe Aisako." The blond said, deciding not to answer the previous question just yet. She didn't know how much information all of them could handle and didn't think it would be wise to just blurt it all out at once.

"You're related to Tyler then?" The girl asked. "Sister?"

"Stepsister." Zoe replied offhandedly while Tyler remained impassive. She silently wondered is he was ever affected by anything. "And you are?"

"Saya Hiroe." Zoe recalled seeing the girl at her school...A year above her if she remembered correctly, so that made her Tyler's age. Zoe then turned to face the glowering brunet.

"Ren Takahada." He said immediately without giving her time to ask. "So, where are we going anyway?"

Zoe frowned at the demanding tone and chose not to answer. Instead, she turned towards her ever-silent stepbrother, mentally smirking when Ren scowled further at being ignored.

"Is there anyone else on this train, besides all of you?"

Tyler shook his head and Zoe felt her heart drop a little. She didn't understand. The guys were the one's who had received the distress call, so why weren't they here with her? She stared at the people around her. In addition, why were all of them here?

"How did you all get here?"

Tyler's eyebrow rose but he remained quiet. What kind of pointless question was that? He could ask her the same thing. Zoe sighed and turned towards the others who would most likely be more helpful than the reclusive redhead would.

"Well, I was shopping when I got this strange text message telling me to come here..." Saya began, frowning slightly. "I don't really know why, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. So, here I am."

"Then I can presume you all received something similar." Zoe said thoughtfully, understanding the confusion on the girl's face. It had been the same for her and her friends, just four years ago. So, if they all got the S.O.S, then they're digi-destineds, the blond thought and glanced momentarily at Haru who was clutching her arm as if she were going to suddenly disappear and leave him all alone. Even him.

"You sound like you know more than you're letting on." Ren asked, glaring at her.

"And if I do?" Zoe asked coolly, not liking this guy's attitude one bit.

"Where are we going? Is this place some kind of secret?" Saya asked, interrupting whatever comment Ren had been about to make.

"Sort of." Zoe replied, glancing at the girl. "Not many people know that it exists."

Tyler closed his eyes while listening to the conversation. From what he had gathered so far, they had all received the same cryptic message. They had all felt compelled to be on this train for some bizarre reason. And Zoe, his stepsister, seemed to have been through this sort of thing before...He didn't know what was coming, but he felt like it was something important...Something life changing. And that made him nervous.

Ren scoffed, sitting down and crossing his arms across his chest. "This is so stupid."

Zoe bristled at the remark. The Digital World was in some sort of danger and she was stuck with a bunch of people, who couldn't comprehend the severity of the situation they were in. Saya was curious and Haru was a child, so Zoe could excuse their behaviour. Tyler was behaving like his usual, uncaring self, so she could excuse his attitude as well...But her impression of Ren Takahada so far, was less than remarkable. His arrogance and condescending demeanour, made her want to pull him over her knee and give him a good smack. Goodness knows his parents obviously never did it enough.

"If it's so stupid, why the hell did you get on the train?" She snapped, her temper finally reaching its limit.

Ren just shook his left hand casually as if brushing her off. "Same reason as everyone else, I guess."

The train shook slightly and light burst through the windows. Every occupant turned to discover, that they had finally exited the tunnel.

"Ten minutes until arrival." Announced the voice of Angler.

"Arrival to where?" Ren asked irritably as he got to his feet, starting to grow tired of all this vague nonsense.

Before the blond girl could tell him to sit down, as she didn't think it was the best thing to be doing right now, a bright stream of light surrounded them while the train began to shake and tremble violently. Zoe hugged Haru tightly as he let out a whimper. Tyler grabbed the seat's edge, to prevent himself from falling forward. Saya's arms covered her face and Ren swore as he was flung backwards.

Within seconds, the light was gone and Zoe wondered what had happened. Her question was answered immediately when she saw the purple and green device, strapped to her wrist.

"What is it?" Haru asked with interest, stroking his own brown and green one in a slightly scared, yet fascinated way. Saya, Ren and Tyler each had one as well, in a variety of colours.

_D-Tectors…_was Zoe's first thought, but these were very different from the one she had had before. She unstrapped hers and almost dropped it when the thing began to shine. Once the light had cleared, she no longer held a watch, but a small device the size of her hand, and that seemed to resemble a cell phone of sorts.

Hesitantly, the rest of them followed her lead and were soon holding the same device as she was.

"Wow." Haru exclaimed, his child-like curiosity overpowering his fear.

This is just getting stranger and stranger, Tyler mused while he stared at the object in his hand.

"Everything you know, is about to change." Zoe whispered and smiled, at the sight of her second home, not too far off in the distance.

Meanwhile, with the other group, they had recently experienced the same thing, but with more vocal responses.

"What the heck is this thing?" Yoshiko demanded, eyeing the blue and green device in her hand warily as if it might explode any second.

"It's so cool." Tommy said, inspecting his own white and green one with wonder. J.P, Takuya and Koichi murmured their agreement.

"They're different from the old Digi-vices." Koji commented, holding up a navy and white one.

"Wait…Digi-vices? Can someone please explain to me what's going on, and why the hell this isn't bothering any of you?" Yoshiko asked, looking around expectantly with a slight glare

"Where are we?" Caede suddenly asked, her voice full of awe.

They all turned to stare out the windows, the boys smiling at the familiar green world below and the girls looking unsure.

"Welcome to the Digital World." Takuya answered simply and as if on queue, Worm's booming voice sounded.

"Next stop, Flame Terminal."

* * *

**A/N:** What do you all think of my Oc's? I'd love to hear your opinions as well as any possible future pairings...Except for Koji/Zoe, of course.

Note; Digi-vices started off as watches because not all of them brought phones this time. Once unstrapped, the watches turned into flat devices with a screen and four buttons, as well as a button on the side and a silver stripe on the top...Each is, of course, two different colours. Uses will be explained in the future.

_List of all characters outfits in detail._

**Takuya K. - **Black, baggy ¾ pants, an orange T-shirt that says 'Burn' in black on the front with the kanji for fire on the back. Beige cap and fingerless gloves. Orange socks with black and red takkies (or sneakers). Goggles worn around neck.  
**Digi-vice;** Black and red.

**Koji M. - **Long black pants and a white T-shirt. Navy blue jacket with collar, sleeves rolled up to elbows. Black and white takkies. Black bandanna around neck. (and yes, I know both him and Takuya have items around their neck).  
**Digi-vice;** Navy and white.

**Zoe A.-**Indigo ¾ cargo pants, a pale pink, tight fitting T-shirt that reaches midriff. Black headband and purple flats (or pumps...whatever you want to call them).  
**Digi-vice;** Dark purple and light green.

**Koichi K.-**Long cream-coloured pants, a long sleeved red shirt and a black button up over shirt (like the outfit he wears in Frontier, but different colours and no cap). Black and red takkies.  
**Digi-vice;** Black and grey.

**J.P S.**-Yellow T-shirt with a black lightning bolt on front and navy blue 3/4 pants. White socks, blue and yellow takkies.  
**Digi-vice;** Electric blue and yellow.

**Tommy H.-**Dark brown shorts with silver chain, white T-shirt with sleeve edged in green. Orange and green takkies with white socks. (No hat-as much as I love it!).  
**Digi-vice;** White, green and orange.

**Tyler A.-**Long navy blue pants with lots of pockets, a white long sleeved shirt. Blue and white takkies. A silver chain with an amber pendant.  
**Digi-vice;** Violet and white.

**Ren T.-**Grey sleeveless shirt, dark blue jeans. Black and white takkies with black socks and black wristbands.**  
Digi-vice; **Grey and white.

**Yoshiko N.-**light blue and white striped tank top. Dark blue hot pants with a yellow heart on left leg. White knee-length boots with yellow soles and stripes down the side.  
**Digi-vice;** Sky blue and dark blue.

**Caede H. -**a short, polo neck hot pink dress with no sleeves- not too short of course and similar to the dress Corina/Mint wears from Tokyo Mew Mew when she transforms, except for the top section. A red half jacket and gold wedge sandals.  
**Digi-vice; **Hot pink and red.

**Saya H.-**Brown shorts. Beige shirt and a pink duster thrown over it with short sleeves. Light brown takkies (sneakers) and pink socks.  
**Digi-vice;** Brown and pale pink.

**Haru I. -**green T-shirt with charcoal dungarees. Brown and black takkies. (He's only nine after all)  
**Digi-vice;** brown and dark green.


	7. Truth and Reasoning

**A/N: **Firstly, I would like to apologise for the long wait and I sincerely hope that the chapter and its content makes up for that.

Secondly, many of you are concerned about my Oc's…Please do not worry about them, for I can assure you that they will not upstage our heroes or become unrealistic. However, please understand that they are just as much a part of the story as the canon characters. They have a purpose and I did not create them only to serve as romantic interests.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted, especially all the new readers. You are all wonderful and I truly hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Seven: Truth and Reasoning**

* * *

"Hmm…So this is where they managed to summon the humans." A dark figure murmured, while bored red eyes travelled over the small collections of houses within Flame Village, as well as the digimon who inhabited it. "Those pests sure made it far, didn't they Dokugumon?"

"You forget who these _pests _are, Devimon." The large, spider-type digimon nearby scoffed loudly. "They were once companions to the humans who defeated Lucemon and bore witness to many of the Legendary Warriors other battles and activities throughout the many realms of our world."

The great arachnid shifted to get more comfortable before continuing in what seemed to be an amused tone, though somewhat condescending at the same time.

"Annoying they may be, but you cannot deny that they possess a certain determination- or rather, stupidity, that helps them succeed in their efforts…" She let out a soft, derisive laugh. "We can admire that sort of persistence even if it is futile."

Devimon just shrugged, finding the history sermon irrelevant. Dokugumon liked to use too many words than most would find necessary and frankly, he did not care much for facts. The demonic digimon knew all the old stories, just as every member of their Order did…just as _any _digimon taught in history, legends and lore, knew…

The heroic escapades of human children (_Digi-destined he mentally snorted)_, that were brought to their world by Ophanimon, one of the three Celestial guardians. Stories of how these children had gone on to fuse with the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, thus preventing Lucemon's ascension…and Devimon certainly knew of the two digimon who had assisted these brats, along the way, in their conquest.

_Rodents; one yellow and the other white._

They had managed to escape the siege of the Forest Kingdom, but this time their luck had run out and he would make sure they never saw another day.

"It's not going to be much fun, is it?" He asked with a heavy sigh, thoughts returning to the current situation and crimson gaze fixing on a pair of rabbit-like Pagumon as they flitted about playing their silly games, completely unaware of what lurked in the nearby trees.

"It's not supposed to be fun!" Dokugumon immediately snapped in reply, her tone harsh and bitter. "We're not here to fool around Devimon! We have orders to-"

"-Ensure that the humans are eliminated along with the _pests_ responsible for seeking them. The village is to be destroyed, in order to discourage any further forms of rebellion." Devimon interrupted jadedly, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke. "I understand what our orders are Dokugumon; I just don't see why we cannot play with them…for a bit, at least."

Dokugumon growled a low and menacing sound, which reverberated throughout her chest while Devimon stared on unfazed by the display.

"Deal with it." Dokugumon grumbled, irritated by his partners incessant whining. There was always some reason for him to complain and she loathed him for it. "The Trailmon should be arriving any minute and with it, the human children. Summon the Dark Armour so we can get things started."

Devimon rolled his eyes, his bat-like wings flexing slightly in frustration, but he otherwise chose not to comment.

Honestly. He really did not see the point in simply killing someone, if you could not mess with him or her beforehand. Where was the fun in just dying? The demonic digimon snorted. Give him torture, mind games and manipulation any day.

"I suppose you can have any survivors, _after _we have completed our mission…" Dokugumon suddenly announced with a reluctant sigh, knowing that her partner would be insufferable for hours if he did not get his way.

"Just make it quick." Dokugumon then added with what looked like an annoyed frown. "I don't want to have to spend more time here then necessary, especially if it's solely for your amusement."

Devimon glanced at the spider, a wicked smirk forming.

"I will, with great pleasure." He murmured and then turned his attention back towards the peaceful village, his red eyes dancing with a horrible gleam.

Raising one clawed arm, pieces of armour began to materialize and then join, until there was a score of soldiers standing before him, made up of black and silver constructed steel, glowing yellow eyes and wielding large, crude scimitars.

The demon sighed contentedly.

Armour animated by fractal code and his own dark energy, it truly was one of the Lord's greatest inventions…Why hire or enslave digimon to fight for you, when you could simply create your own? In addition, even if destroyed, all you had to do was reincarnate the armour repeatedly.

"Shall we begin, Dokugumon?" He inquired softly while eying the soldiers appreciatively. The spider merely hissed and leapt forward with no other reply.

"Ah, partnership at it's finest." Devimon sighed before addressing the stationary armour. "Destroy everything in sight, but do try to leave me something to play with."

With a salute, the armour departed and Devimon took off in to the air. From the sky, the demonic digimon's smirk turned in to a more predatory grin that promised nothing but ill intentions.

"Evil Wing!" He yelled and the ground below him exploded, mingling with the terrified screams of the Flame Village residents.

* * *

"Alright!" Takuya cheered after Worm's booming announcement, goggles swinging around his neck wildly as he pumped his left fist into the air. They would soon be entering Flame Terminal and the brunet could feel the excitement rippling throughout his body in waves. Meanwhile, his friends merely shook their heads at his antics, used to his boundless energy and enthusiasm.

Takuya grinned as he stared past the glass of his window.

Flame Terminal had been the starting point of his journey four years ago, and it seemed oddly appropriate that it would be so this time around. The only thing missing was Zoe. Takuya really hoped that their theory was right and that the blond girl was on that second train. They would just have to wait and see what happened, which was going to be difficult, given that patience was not exactly a part of the previous flame warrior's vocabulary.

"Would someone mind explaining, what exactly is this, uh…Digital World?"

Takuya mentally kicked himself at the sound of Yoshiko's voice breaking through his thoughts. He had almost forgotten all about the two extra (naive) members that his group had attained…keyword being _almost_.

Sighing, the brunet reluctantly turned away from the window, to face the blue-eyed girl sitting across from him.

"Some kind of answer would be appreciated." She announced with her arms crossed over her chest. Next to Yoshiko, Caede nodded expectantly, albeit somewhat nervously.

Takuya thought about it, wondering how he was going to explain anything without sounding like a complete basket case in need of severe shock therapy.

He exchanged quick looks with each of the guys, hoping one of them might have a solution, but his hope was very short lived as he only received uncertain shrugs and sheepish grins, along with an annoying smirk from a certain apathetic raven. Takuya's gaze narrowed in said raven's direction.

"What?" Koji questioned, eyebrows raised ever so slightly and his smirk growing.

"Why don't you explain it to the girls, Minamoto?" Takuya calmly asked through gritted teeth, trying his best to ignore his best friend's subtle taunts. The brunet knew exactly what the raven was trying to achieve, and it was not going to work.

"Why don't you, Kanbara?" The raven shot back in his usual cool manner and Takuya had to suppress a growl. Okay, so maybe it might work, but that did not mean he wasn't going to _try_ to get Koji to be the first to cave.

"I don't know what to say to them."

"That's a surprise considering how we can barely ever get you to stop talking, one would think a simple question would be easy for you."

Meanwhile, J.P, Tommy and Koichi groaned, the latter throwing his twin an exasperated glance.

"They really have rubbish timing." J.P muttered under his breath. "Now, really isn't the time to test who is the most stubborn, especially with the terminal practically around the corner."

"When is their timing ever good?" Tommy said to the older boy and J.P just shrugged.

"Dunno, but I'm hoping Koji decides to end this before it gets too out of hand."

Koichi snorted.

"Don't hold your breath J.P. He enjoys arguing with Takuya too much."

"True."

"Wish Zoe was here…" Tommy mumbled, unheard by anyone else. "She wouldn't let them continue like this."

While Koji and Takuya's competition of wills escalated (where the brunet spewed insults and the raven offered sarcasm as a reply to further piss the other off) and their friends watched on helplessly, the two girls nearby grew puzzled (and in Yoshiko's case, somewhat angry) by the display.

"I really wish they would explain what's going on." Caede whispered, russet ponytail swishing from side to side as she shook her head slowly. "It feels like I'm about to enter a room with no exits."

"I know how you feel Caede." Yoshiko grumbled, utterly infuriated that her question was going to go unanswered. "You would assume they would be at least a little considerate, seeing as they seem to know something about all this weird stuff and we know zip."

Yoshiko continued to stare at the male group for a few more seconds before letting out an irritable huff, her fingers clenching around the blue device she was holding. The boy's had referred to them as D-Tectors…whatever those were supposed to be, she thought with a bleak sigh. It was the only thing they had bothered explaining, and even that hadn't been as informative as she would have liked.

The lack of information was beginning to grate at Yoshiko's nerves, and she knew that Caede was feeling as lost (if not more so) as she was. However, seeing how things were currently going, the blue-eyed brunette believed they might have to wait a while before they got any real answers…Stupid boys. Yoshiko had half a mind to stand up and go smack one of them, but she was trying to avoid violence these days (…what with her past record of anger management issues and fights).

"Do you want me to beg, Minamoto?" She heard Takuya snap.

"I don't know, but I'll definitely take that option into consideration if you want me to?" the raven's casually replied.

Yoshiko wanted to scream…and her parents wondered why she got angry so easily.

Next to Yoshiko, Caede's hazel eyes flicked from her silently fuming friend, to each boy and then back to her friend while a slight frown marred her tanned features. She considered interfering in order to calm things down, but the russet-haired girl quickly discarded any option involving something like that. Having a person focused solely on her was something she always tried to avoid, and the very idea made her hands begin to tremble.

Therefore, Caede decided to let the boys sort themselves out and wait patiently for one of them to explain where they were going…Until that moment came, the girl would occupy her time by doing something else.

Her hazel eyes turned towards the window, taking stock of the strange world below. The train was close enough for her to make out tiny details; like the small village, houses and what looked like smoke rising from what she presumed would be their chimneys, the forest surrounding the area and a large structure that resembled a train station.

It was all rather beautiful, in a peaceful sort of way, she thought absently.

A sudden flash of movement caught the timid girl's attention and her hazel eyes focused upon a mass of white objects floating alongside their train. At first, Caede thought they were clouds, but after another five seconds of staring, she realised in horror that clouds did not have large eyes…or mouths.

Caede shrieked, unable to stop herself while falling backwards off her seat. Her actions garnered everyone's immediate attention.

"You okay?" She heard Koichi ask as Yoshiko swiftly helped her to her feet.

"Yes."

"Why'd you scream?" Takuya asked inquisitively though the concern was evident in his tone.

Caede blushed when all eyes turned to her expectantly, but she swallowed and did her best to answer.

"I-I saw s-something outside the window."

They all moved over to the window while Caede stayed back, twisting her hands anxiously. She really hoped she had not been imagining something and had now worried everyone for nothing. However, her uncertainty was appeased when Yoshiko quickly stumbled back after peering through the glass, taking a seat on the opposite chair.

"What the hell are those things?" She demanded.

To both the girl's surprise, the boys chuckled and proceeded to sit down, looking amused rather than apprehensive.

"Guess we have our icebreaker, huh?" Takuya commented with a wry grin and Koji rolled his eyes. "And here I was, thinking it could be something dangerous."

"Alright, that's enough." Yoshiko began, thoroughly tired of being kept in the dark, especially after seeing little freaky, marshmallow monsters outside. "One of you needs to explain. Now."

"Okay." Koji agreed softly, having grown weary of his banter with Takuya and actually feeling slightly sorry for the two girls who had no idea what they had become involved in. "This place is known as the Digital World, and it is a parallel universe to our own. Digimon inhabit it, which are creatures of various shapes, sizes, colours and species. Those creatures you saw hovering outside, are one of those species and quite harmless...And that's basically all there is to it really."

The silence that followed was deafening as Caede and Yoshiko simply stared at the raven, and he stared right back, barely blinking.

"You couldn't have sounded more like a robot if you tried." Takuya deadpanned, glancing at his best friend.

Koji simply shrugged and Koichi muffled a laugh.

"They're taking this a lot better than I thought they would." J.P commented thoughtful brown eyes set upon the quiet girls.

"I'd give it a few more seconds to sink in." Tommy responded.

Takuya glanced at the girls then started to count under his breath, wondering how long it actually would take.

"One…Two…Three-"

"Do you realize how insane that all just sounded?" Yoshiko exclaimed, standing up suddenly and throwing her hands in the air. She glared at Takuya, who smiled nervously while thinking _'apparently not long at all'_, before she rounded on Koji. "Do you really expect me-us, _anyone_, to believe something like that?"

The raven just shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"You did ask." He stated smoothly. "It's not my problem if the answer wasn't what you wanted to hear."

"B-But that's just..." Yoshiko began, before breaking off doubtfully.

Caede just remained silent, still trying to absorb this new information. It was all so strange and terrifying; especially for a girl who could barely voice her own opinion without stuttering…And now she was supposed to believe in other worlds and flying marshmallows, and other strange creatures? This definitely counted as one of those odd days, where she probably should have simply stayed in bed.

"If you think that's bad, imagine discovering all this when you were just twelve years old." J.P decided to say, grinning widely.

"Or eleven." Takuya murmured.

"Or nine." Tommy added, remembering his first time in the Digital World and the fear he had felt.

Koichi just shook his head, looking bemused. He did not think his friends were helping much.

"S-So that's how you know about this place. You've b-been here before?" Caede asked inaudibly, her eyes flickering over each of them as she spoke.

"Four years ago." Koji affirmed. "If you feel the need to be exact."

Yoshiko stared, mind whirling with too many thoughts and doubts for her to respond properly and it seemed as if Caede had nothing else to say. The silence continued for a few more seconds, until the brunette decided to lock away the little voice screaming at her that all these boys were mad, and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll listen to what you have to say." Yoshiko announced in what could best be described as a forcedly calm tone, sitting down next to her friend as Caede glanced curiously in her direction. "Tell us what you know and what else we should know?"

If she was going to go insane, Yoshiko figured she might as well go the whole distance.

"Well…" J.P began, scratching his head and looking thoughtful. "Most of the stuff is pretty simple and some of it's even similar to things in our world- even if it's a little weirder."

"You'll learn most of what you need to know, as we travel." Koichi reassured them when both the girls sent J.P sceptical glances. "Koji gave you the basics, but you really have to see it and experience it to understand. I mean, that's how we did it."

"And why are we here?" Yoshiko questioned. "There's got to be a reason, right?"

At this, the boys grew quiet and thoughtful. They did not want the girls to be afraid but then again, they did not want them to think this was some kind of game either. Exchanging decisive looks with his friends, Takuya answered the question.

"It all has to do with the message you received."

"The S.O.S?" Caede asked quietly and she received a nod from Koichi.

"You see, we're what's called digi-destined." Tommy said, continuing for Takuya. "Children chosen by the Digital World to protect it from evil and anyone who would try to upset the balance."

"So fundamentally, we were summoned here to defend this place…like some kind of guardian?" Yoshiko murmured with a scowl. This was simply getting more bizarre by the minute.

"Yes." J.P answered simply and silence once again descended upon the compartment.

"This is crazy." Yoshiko finally said, tugging on a strand of short brown hair rather violently. "Absolutely nuts."

"If we're lucky, you guys can hop on a departing train that will take you back to our world." Takuya said, attempting to offer some comfort. Both girls were stuck in a place that shouldn't really exist and he knew how besieged they were probably feeling. They deserved a choice.

"We can do that?" Caede asked hopefully and both Takuya and Tommy nodded.

"Don't count on it too much." Koji interrupted, not truly knowing why he was always the voice of reason, but fulfilling the role anyway. "Chances are high that you may have to wait a while or see this out to the end."

The teen ignored the glare Takuya, Tommy and Yoshiko sent his way.

"Well aren't you the positive one?" The girl hissed.

"You need to be equipped for every scenario." Koji replied mercilessly and both Takuya and Tommy's glares faded. "It's called being realistic and prepared, rather than naïve and useless"

The remark stung a little but Yoshiko could understand the raven's point and nodded curtly. Life wasn't just black and white, no matter how much you wished it could be.

"I understand."

"It'll be okay." Koichi offered gently, catching Caede's eye as she was starting to shiver. "We've been here before and know roughly what to expect. We wont let anything happen to you."

The raven was reward with a shy, hesitant smile.

"We're going to have to finish this chat later." Koji suddenly announced, having chosen to watch the rest of their journey as the rest of his friends comforted the girls. "We've arrived."

The boys gathered around the apathetic teen to discover that he was correct. Slowly, the train was rumbling to a stop within a ramshackle station.

"Flame Terminal." Worm announced loudly. "Everybody off who's getting."

"Why don't you all move at once?" Koji said flatly, when no one attempted to leave. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and then sighed.

"Well?" He asked expectantly, his cobalt eyes intense. "We're going to have to get off sooner or later."

Koichi stood and smiled encouragingly at the others.

"My brother's right. We can't start a journey if we don't even take the first step."

"Yeah." J.P nodded and glanced at the two girls. "Come on, it'll be fine."

"Let's do this." Takuya said, leading the way to the exit with Tommy close behind him and the others only a few steps away.

Yoshiko stood after a moment's hesitation, and then turned towards Caede, who was twisting her hands together and looking worried.

"Stay close to me and it'll be fine."

Caede blinked, nodded and then stood as well, linking arms with the taller girl to stop from fidgeting.

"We'll get through whatever this is together. Okay?" Yoshiko said with a warm, cheering smile.

Caede smiled weakly in return, not feeling as confident or as hopeful as her friend was.

"Together." She agreed anyway.

They both took deep breaths before following the group of boys off the train, steadying themselves for the world that lay just outside. It was safe to presume that none of them, not even the boys, was prepared for the gigantic tremor that shook the ground, just seconds later.

* * *

Some miles from Flame Terminal, another Trailmon had recently entered the Digital World, steadily making his way along the tracks, gliding past trees, hills and other landmarks of irrelevance, while filling a certain blond girl with a constant wave of nostalgia.

"Enough is enough." Ren snapped as he rounded on Zoe, looking annoyed as well as apprehensive. "You're the only one who seems to understand what the hell is going on. So spill already."

"Maybe if you asked nicely, I would." Zoe retorted without even glancing at the dark-haired teen. She was busy staring out the window, while also keeping a watchful eye on the little nine-year old seated beside her, sniffling quietly. He reminded her of Tommy at that age.

Zoe sighed and turned to face the trains other occupants. She couldn't understand why she was being so difficult about this. Maybe it was because she felt like they did not belong here or that it felt weird to be discussing the Digi-World with strangers and not her friends. Maybe it was because she didn't know why the guys were not here, and was angry to be the only one who had a clue.

Whatever the reason, the blond girl realised that (like it or not) these people were here with her and Takuya and the others were not. Therefore, she had a lot of explaining to do if they wanted to survive in a place that was so different from home.

Guess there is no better time than the present, she thought resentfully.

"What would you like to know?"

"Where are we exactly, for starters?" Ren demanded immediately.

"What these are?" Saya added, holding up the pink and brown device in her hand.

"Or how you know all this?" Tyler inserted quietly, grey eyes refusing to meet hers and gazing impassively at the floor.

Haru remained quiet, choosing not to say anything and just listen as the older children spoke. He was already scared, but did not want to make that any worse by panicking. He shivered involuntarily. Zoe smiled at him gently when she noticed the movement and he calmed somewhat, then he watched her take in a deep breath and begin to answer their questions.

"This place is called the Digital World or Digi-World for short. It's a separate universe linked directly to our own and was supposedly created from our various communication networks...At least, that's what we learned the last time I was here."

"We? Last time?" Saya questioned with a slight frown and Zoe rubbed her face wearily.

_This was going to take a while._

"Four years ago, myself and a few others, received a message similar to the one you all got now. You see, only specific people of a certain calibre receive these messages and even fewer actually commit." She answered, thinking back to that day and how long ago it all seemed…

Zoe recalled the countless children assembled within the secret level of Shibuya station and how many had decided against getting aboard one of the brightly coloured trains. She could feel herself smiling at the memory and shook herself free from her thoughts, so she could continue her explanation.

"Anyway, we were brought here and after many trials, learnt that we had been summoned by one of the Digi-Worlds protectors so that we could free the inhabitants from a dark and corrupted force."

"Inhabitants?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow, quickly latching on to that indefinite choice of wording. "You make it sound like they're not human?"

"Well-uh…" Zoe paused trying to find a way to put it in plainly what Digimon were, without insulting the race or looking more insane, as her companions probably figured she already was. "They're not human…At least, not in the literal sense."

Everyone was now regarding her with an odd look, even Tyler who usually did not seem to care much when it came to anything that involved her.

"What?" Three voices asked at once. The golden-blond cringed, feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

"Um, well you see, they're like animal-type creatures…" She breathed in deeply. "They have human intelligence, can talk and have these special abilities."

Silence…

Zoe allowed herself to laugh nervously. They all thought she was crazy and Zoe knew, if she were in their position, she would think she was crazy too. Seriously…animals that can talk? Even she would think herself mental.

"I think you're a few marbles short of a full set." Ren commented and Zoe didn't even bother to glare at him. She felt his exclamation could be a little justified this time around.

"Look, I know it sounds insane, and that's exactly what we all thought back then as well...But you'll see soon enough. This world is very real...as is everything in it." _Even the dangers_, she added silently.

"Okay, I'll bite for the moment." Tyler announced with a look on his face that she could not quite understand, and then held up his purple and white gadget. "What about this?"

"D-Tectors." Zoe answered immediately before a puzzled frown formed and she added. "I think."

"You think?" Tyler repeated.

Zoe gave her stepbrother an exasperated glance, which he returned with his normal deadpan expression. Zoe hated that look because she could never figure out what he may be thinking.

"Well, they're very different from the ones my friends and I had four years ago." She answered defensively and it was true. These looked more like handheld laptops and not cell phones, as her previous version had been. Therefore, it was highly possible that these devices were not D-Tectors.

"What do they do?" Haru asked softly, speaking for the first time since the conversation began. It all sounded like some bizarre story out of one of his videogames or fairytales, and the young boy found he felt only a little frightened now but mostly curious by what was going on.

Zoe turned to face the young boy, unable to give him a mere shrug as an answer and feeling as if she owed him more.

"They could do a number of things." She replied softly. "The one I had four years ago, could be used for communication, it contained a map of our surroundings and once even acted as a torch..."

Zoe trailed off, not knowing how to explain about Evolution and the Legendary Warriors, or if she even should...After all, the spirits had passed on, so there was no way they would be searching for them this time around. Right?

"Okay, say that I believe everything you just said." Saya began after a brief silence. "All these things about this world and it's-umm, creatures. Say its real…Then the message we heard, was that real too?"

Zoe nodded instantly.

"Yes, though to be honest, I never listened to the whole version and only got the summarized part."

"Then how is it that you're here?" Ren asked managing to look incredulous and patronizing at the same time. "Didn't you say something about _chosen _ones receiving a message- or something like that?"

"Like I just said, I was told by one of my friends." Zoe answered, scowling at him slightly. This person and his attitude were really starting to get on her nerves. "As to why I'm here even though I never got a message directly…I don't know the answer to that. It might be because I used to be a chosen child." She then turned away from him flippantly and addressed no one in particular. "Can one of you remember what the message said?"

Saya was the one to answer, which didn't come as a surprise to the golden blond since the older girl had been the most cooperative so far. Ren was currently trying to burn a hole into the side of her head and Zoe knew better than to anticipate much from Tyler unless he personally felt the need to say something…that was not to be expected given their frigid relationship.

"I'm not really sure." The pink-haired girl began calmly.

Zoe's explanation and strange ideas were proving to be difficult to digest, but she adamantly refused to be daunted just because something didn't seem rational. If helping the blond made this more understandable, then Saya was going to be as useful as she could.

"It was a distress call, as if someone was in danger, but the signal was really distorted and there was some kind of interference…" She continued. "That's mostly all I recall, along with this tugging feeling, as if I had to do what they were asking."

Tyler watched his stepsister tilt her head thoughtfully while he too pondered this information. What Saya said, sounded about the same as his own experience. He barely remembered the messages exact wording, but he knew it had been a cry for help…He also knew about the feeling she was describing. It had been strange, as if someone was pushing him and he had felt this inexplicable need to do what the voice wanted.

The redhead suppressed a heavy sigh.

Great, now he was just as mad as the rest of the people seated upon this train, and that piece of info certainly did not make him feel any better, even if he was not the only one on the verge of losing his mind.

Lost in his own musings, Tyler vaguely listened to Ren half-heartedly give his version of the message to his expectant-looking stepsister, which ending up sounding exactly like Saya's own description. Haru's own account was to some extent different, but that was likely since the kid had received his message from his mother's phone. Tyler's grey eyes then landed on Zoe's attentive profile, while she spoke to Haru in comforting tones and suddenly he found himself struck by a notion that the blond girl had mentioned earlier.

"By friends, you weren't talking about _those _friends, were you?" The question coated with disbelief and leaving his lips before he could even think about preventing it. He had always found his stepsisters taste in friends a little odd…What normal girl was best friends with only four boys her age and a boy just three years younger. It was unnatural…and, no there was no and, they were simply strange and that was all there was to it.

Zoe's attention immediately turned his way and she nodded deftly without needing any explanation to which he was referring, a fact that made him feel disconcerted. Her bright green eyes held his for a brief, tangibly awkward moment before turning back towards the nine-year old beside her.

"They were supposed to be here as well." She announced softly and Tyler thought he heard a bit of anger in that slightly melancholy tone. Feeling unexpectedly troubled by her depressed expression, the redhead wondered if he should bring up the presence of the second train, but then mentally shut down that thought. Their relationship was where he preferred it to be and he saw no need to change that.

"There was another train at the station." Came a soft murmur that voiced what Tyler had declined mentioning.

Zoe seemed to straighten and lose that dejected air.

"Really?" She questioned Haru excitedly and the small boy blushed, nodding shyly.

"Yeah, it was huge and red." Ren decided to add.

"Fantastic! It must have left before I arrived." The golden blond exclaimed, looking rather happy, but she quickly lost the smile and started to glare at nothing in particular, muttering curses that made Haru's eyes widen comically. In any other situation, Tyler might have smiled.

"So your friends must be here as well." Saya stated hesitantly when Zoe eventually calmed down, after ranting about stupid boys and how they only existed to irritate her.

Zoe sighed, relief swelling up inside of her now that her worry and irritation had bled itself dry. They were here and that meant she would find them eventually.

"I suppose so."

The train rumbled on steadily and silence descended upon the compartment, with each person apparently submerged in their own thoughts and concerns…that is, until Ren decided to snort loudly and sit back with his arms placed behind his head.

"Alternate world located Spirit-only-knows-where, with a bunch of strangers and _chosen, _to be some sort of warrior." He casually declared with sneer in Zoe's direction. "Now we just need to see some of your so-called _digimon _creatures, and this will really turn into a party."

Expecting some sort of heated retort from his stepsister's lips, Tyler was mildly surprised to find her smirking deviously as if she had just heard an amusing joke. From the curious expressions on both Saya and Haru's face, the redhead could tell they had been surprised as well.

"Don't worry Ren, you wont have to wait long to meet a digimon." Zoe said, grinning slyly. "In fact, I'll even introduce you to the train when we finally reach whatever terminal he's taking us to."

The dark-haired teen narrowed his eyes. Meanwhile, Saya glanced around the compartment looking faintly disgusted and muttering something that sounded like _"We're in its insides_", while Haru shifted nervously in his seat.

Tyler merely stared at the floor, inwardly sighing. After recent revelations, a sentient train was not impossible to believe, though the calmness with which he accepted this fact, certainly made him worry for his sanity…or whatever reason he still had left.

"You really expect me to believe this train is some sort of creature?" Ren scoffed, but Zoe didn't answer and just began to hum a tune, turning to stare out the window with a large grin upon her lips.

"This is so unreal." Saya whispered looking exceptionally pale. The pink-haired girl had been having a hard time dealing with all this before, but sitting within an apparently, _living_ train, had rattled her composure completely.

"I'd get used to it quickly I were you." Zoe suddenly announced, her tone having turned serious yet at the same time, kind and sympathetic. "There are going to be much stranger things and you're going to have to be careful. Trust me."

Saya nodded even though she still looked a little sick and Haru bravely took hold of Zoe's hand in need of comfort, which the blond was very happy to give.

"What a drag." Ren mumbled, seemingly unable to say anything else after what he had heard.

Tyler glanced at the device still held in his hand before pocketing it and turning to gaze out the window, mentally organizing his scattered thoughts.

Logic and rationality aside, they were four teenagers and one child in a world that carried many mysteries and unknown dangers. He could not be certain of what lay ahead or even what was out there, but the redhead did believe that Zoe was right.

There was no room for carelessness in a place of infinite possibilities.

* * *

**A/N: **I really am very sorry for my absence (which affected all my stories and not just this one). All I can do is apologise and hope you all understand that life can sometimes be a pain. I will warn you right now that updates will be slow but I shall try my best.

**Extra Information/Facts/Notes: **

Pairings are as follows; Koji/Zoe (should be obvious by now), Takuya/Oc (Yoshiko), Koichi/Oc (Caede), Oc/Oc (Ty/Saya). Main pairing is Kozumi though and the rest are mild and mostly filler.

A score equals twenty, so Devimon summoned that number of Dark Armour. Dark Armour is armour brought to life (sorry for pointing out the obvious, but there will be that one person who asks me to explain). You can destroy it by absorbing the fractal code used to create it.

**Evil Wing-** one of Devimon's many attacks. It resembles razor sharp slashes of energy.

**Poison Thread-** one of Dokugumon's many attacks. A poisonous blast shot from mouth.

Devimon is a bit of a sadist (which I'm sure many of you noted). Please don't flame me if you feel the story is getting too gory or whatever. It is rated T for a reason and therefore it will be slightly darker than canon. So expect a lot of violence, angst, death (with digimon it doesn't really count when you think about it) and most likely torture (and I mean proper torture- No tickling people with feathers to get information O.o).

I apologise for the ridiculously long A/N. Anyway, please review. Any thoughts, ideas or queries are always appreciated. Just because this is my story, does not mean that suggestions or advice wouldn't be accepted.

* * *

_**Preview**_

Great red and golden flames sprung up around Takuya, burning hot and bright like the sun as his fingertips made contact with the glowing stone. Suddenly, an enormous feeling of warmth blossomed within him and filled his entire being with its passionate, radiant energy. Takuya grinned, his dark eyes echoing the moving flames that surrounded him and in that single moment, he knew what he had to do. Sunstone held firmly in one hand and his Blaze D-Tector in the other, light flared as he brought the two items together.

"Execute! Jewel Evolution."

Fire danced before his eyes and the world erupted in a flash of flames and swirling data. Ribbons of red and gold light wrapped around him and Takuya could feel his body being stretched and reconfigured to suit his new form. In the next instant, the light and flames exploded, and an wholly different being emerged.

"Suryamon."

Everyone stared on in amazement at the large figure and Koji scoffed lightly, though an amused twinkle shone in his cobalt eyes.

"Figures that the moron would be the first to get a spirit."


	8. Legends and Roaring Flames (pt 1)

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted. You really are the best…and I apologise for the long wait.

Story is NOT abandoned and never will be. May take me some time to update but I will get to it. Times are just a bit tough and I hope you can be patient with me while I sort my messy life out ^-^ Happy reading.

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Return**

**Chapter Eight: Legends and Roaring Flames (Pt I)**

* * *

_Previously…_

_Armour animated by fractal code and his own dark energy, it truly was one of the Lord's greatest inventions…Why hire or enslave digimon to fight for you, when you could simply create your own? In addition, even if destroyed, all you had to do was reincarnate the armour repeatedly._

_"Shall we begin, Dokugumon?" He inquired softly while eying the soldiers appreciatively. The spider merely hissed and leapt forward with no other reply._

_"Ah, partnership at it's finest." Devimon sighed before addressing the stationary armour. "Destroy everything in sight, but do try to leave me something to play with."_

_With a salute, the armour departed and Devimon took off in to the air. From the sky, the demonic digimon's smirk turned in to a more predatory grin that promised nothing but ill intentions._

_"Evil Wing!" He yelled and the ground below him exploded, mingling with the terrified screams of the Flame Village residents._

_…_

_"Don't worry Ren, you wont have to wait long to meet a digimon." Zoe said, grinning slyly. "In fact, I'll even introduce you to the train when we finally reach whatever terminal he's taking us to."_

_The dark-haired teen narrowed his eyes. Meanwhile, Saya glanced around the compartment looking faintly disgusted and muttering something that sounded like "We're in its insides", while Haru shifted nervously in his seat. _

_Tyler merely stared at the floor, inwardly sighing. After recent revelations, a sentient train was not impossible to believe, though the calmness with which he accepted this fact, certainly made him worry for his sanity…or whatever reason he still had left._

_"You really expect me to believe this train is some sort of creature?" Ren scoffed, but Zoe didn't answer and just began to hum a tune, turning to stare out the window with a large grin upon her lips._

_"This is so unreal." Saya whispered looking exceptionally pale. The pink-haired girl had been having a hard time dealing with all this before, but sitting within an apparently, living train, had rattled her composure completely._

_"I'd get used to it quickly I were you." Zoe suddenly announced, her tone having turned serious yet at the same time, kind and sympathetic. "There are going to be much stranger things and you're going to have to be careful. Trust me."_

_Saya nodded even though she still looked a little sick and Haru bravely took hold of Zoe's hand in need of comfort, which the blond was very happy to give._

_"What a drag." Ren mumbled, seemingly unable to say anything else after what he had heard._

_Tyler glanced at the device still held in his hand before pocketing it and turning to gaze out the window, mentally organizing his scattered thoughts._

_Logic and rationality aside, they were four teenagers and one child in a world that carried many mysteries and unknown dangers. He could not be certain of what lay ahead or even what was out there, but the redhead did believe that Zoe was right. _

_There was no room for carelessness in a place of infinite possibilities._

_…_

_"Flame Terminal." Worm announced loudly. "Everybody off who's getting."_

_"Why don't you all move at once?" Koji said flatly, when no one attempted to leave. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and then sighed._

_"Well?" He asked expectantly, his cobalt eyes intense. "We're going to have to get off sooner or later."_

_Koichi stood and smiled encouragingly at the others._

_"My brother's right. We can't start a journey if we don't even take the first step."_

_"Yeah." J.P nodded and glanced at the two girls. "Come on, it'll be fine."_

_"Let's do this." Takuya said, leading the way to the exit with Tommy close behind him and the others only a few steps away._

_Yoshiko stood after a moment's hesitation, and then turned towards Caede, who was twisting her hands together and looking worried._

_"Stay close to me and it'll be fine." _

_Caede blinked, nodded and then stood as well, linking arms with the taller girl to stop from fidgeting._

_"We'll get through whatever this is together. Okay?" Yoshiko said with a warm, cheering smile._

_Caede smiled weakly in return, not feeling as confident or as hopeful as her friend was._

_"Together." She agreed anyway. _

_They both took deep breaths before following the group of boys off the train, steadying themselves for the world that lay just outside. It was safe to presume that none of them, not even the boys, was prepared for the gigantic tremor that shook the ground, just seconds later._

* * *

_Now…_

The ground rumbled loudly once again and Koji swore as his legs gave way beneath him, forcing the raven-haired teen to grab hold of a bench railing to keep from going down.

"What the hell…"

He heard his friend's utter similar curses as the two girls cried out in stunned surprise, while he glanced around quickly in an effort to find the source of the quake.

It was then that Koji noticed the eerie emptiness of the terminal and saw smoke in the distance, rising from what appeared to be rooftops, the familiar mushroom-type he remembered from all those years back.

A loud crash sounded and the raven watched as trees toppled to the ground, causing even more smoke.

"Looks like we got trouble." He murmured and was relieved to find that he was not the only one to have noticed the commotion.

_It would be rather stupid if no one else noticed…_

"Think it's some kind of battle?" Takuya asked, moving forward to stand beside the raven as his dark eyes raked carefully across the scenery. Meanwhile, Koichi dealt with the task of reassuring the girls who had panicked at the word 'battle', while J.P and Tommy stood attentively nearby, eyes expressing their own concern.

Koji frowned. "I can't really see anything from here, so not too sure, but it definitely sounds like one."

"Your arrival might have been noticed." A voice grumbled and they all jumped slightly, having forgotten the Trailmon's presence. "Or expected."

"Noticed by whom?" Koji asked turning away from the smoke to look at the red creature curiously. "Do you know why we've been brought here?"

"The train is talking. _Why is the train talking_?" Yoshiko asked in a strained whisper while Caede stared on with wide eyes, but Koji ignored them in favour of listening to Worm's reply.

_They could answer questions later. Time was precious…_

"Of course." The bulky Trailmon answered in a gentle tone so vastly different from his usual deafening octave. "A great darkness beset the land a few months ago, stealing fractal code and digital essence, while its forces raid, pillage and destroy any village or digimon who defy them."

Takuya frowned as he listened half-heartedly, absently rubbing at his left shoulder.

There was a strange sound ringing in his ears and every time he moved, something warm caressed his skin. He shrugged it off and decided to pay attention to what was going on rather than his weird phantom imaginings.

"Essence?" Tommy questioned, not understanding what the digimon meant by the term and having not heard of it before.

"Essence is..." Worm began to explain only to be cut off by another loud rumble that shook the station walls and caused the girls to shriek in surprise.

"What the hell is going on?" Yoshiko demanded while she took hold of her friends trembling hand.

"Was that an earthquake?" J.P asked with frown, brown eyes narrowed as they peered into the distance.

"Your first guess was most likely right..Sum'in probably attacking the Flame village." Worm announced roughly. "Common occurrence nowadays, what with dark armour and all those shadow agents taking over…I know Axle Town an Commonfair are gone."

_Dark armour? Shadow agents? Towns he had never heard of…_

Koji and Takuya both shared a glance of concern that mirrored the uncertainty they both felt.

"We had better find out what's going on." Takuya then declared slowly, rubbing awkwardly at his neck when a gentle heat brushed across it. "I don't like how this is starting to sound."

"I agree." Koji murmured, watching Takuya curiously and wondering why his friend looked a bit distracted. He figured it could wait as he noticed Tommy approached the Trailmon to look into it's large yellow eyes.

"Do you know exactly what dark armour is?"

"Is this really the time to gather information Tommy?" J.P asked and the smaller teen scowled.

"We might not get the chance later and then wish we had asked."

"Tommy's right J.P." Takuya added. "We can't do much if we're clueless and I kinda would like to know what it is myself."

J.P reluctantly nodded and Tommy repeated his question.

"Never seen it myself." Worm grunted in reply. "Word is that it's living metal that cant be destroyed and if it can, well, you'll be hard pressed to find a way."

"Just perfect…" Koji sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"What about the Celestial Digimon?" Koichi questioned. "Surely they would have been able to prevent this all from occurring?"

"Yeah…" Takuya continued with an agitated huff. _It was starting to feel hot! Was he the only one noticing these changes?_. "Why didn't they stop all this before it got so out of hand?"

"Last I heard, they had been captured when the Forest Kingdom was beseiged…" Worm mumbled then his large eyes widened when the station trembled dangerously from another explosion. "Sorry kids, I'm gonna get out of here before it all goes under."

_…Captured._

"Sure." J.P answered for them all seeing as Worm's statement had been a bit of a shock. "Travel safe."

The group watched as the Trailmon pulled forward and began chugging away, wishing them luck and to seek him out if they needed any help, then he soon disappeared from sight.

"Now what?" Yoshiko asked quietly, having watched silently with Caede as the boys talked and now staring at where the smoke still rose in steady clouds. "Are we going to go help out?"

The boy's exchanged surprised glances.

"What?" Yoshiko snapped, hands propped onto her hips as her blue eyes narrowed. "You thought we were just going to sit back while innocents got hurt?"

"N-no." Takuya stammered, not really paying attention at the end, once again distracted by the ringing in his ears and the searing under his fingernails. "Of course you can help."

Yoshiko sniffed.

"Good. We might no get what's happening, nor truly understand exactly what we've gotten ourselves involved in, but that doesn't mean we're not committed, right Caede?"

The shy girl nodded, eyes wary but expression determined as she too spared the towering column of smoke a speculative glance.

"We'll do what we can." She said softly. "After all, this place seems important to you."

_That's because it is…_Koji thought.

"Right." The raven then interjected before the little impassioned heart-to-heart could go any further. "We're going to approach this carefully and take things one step at a time."

"Koji's right." Koichi said. "We don't want to end up in more trouble then we can handle."

"This is like our first time all over again." J.P sighed rubbing wearily at his forehead. "All action and no direction."

"You're telling me…" Takuya muttered.

"Try to be a little optimistic." Yoshiko smiled cheerily. "At least you guys actually have some understanding of this world compared to me and Caeds."

"That's true." J.P agreed and they all shared a small smile.

"Let's be off." Takuya said. Leading the way, the brunet fell in step with Koji while the rest followed behind.

"You okay?"

Takuya blinked.

"Yeah, why?" He asked a little confused at his friends worried frown.

"You seem edgy."

Takuya opened his mouth to assure the raven he was fine, but a shiver rolled down his spine and he wavered slightly. Koji reached out to steady him.

"You see?" He said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm fine." Takuya muttered brushing off his best friend's concern and sparing the others a careful glance, relieved that no one else had seemed to notice.

"I'm fine."

Koji stared and eventually nodded.

"Okay."

Takuya smiled thankfully.

The rest of the trip across the terminal was quick and soon the sounds of rumbling grew more pronounced and the smell of fire and smoke hung in the air. Many of the small mushroom-like houses, had sections missing or shattered glass. Flower beds and trees appeared to have been uprooted…and small flames burned among the rubble.

"This sure is a mess." Yoshiko stated quietly.

"It's so quiet." Caede whispered, fingers hesitantly brushing a broken door that was barely being held by its last remaining hinge.

J.P nudged a piece of charred wood with one foot and glanced around.

"Maybe everyone evacuated?"

"Hello!" Takuya shouted, hands cupped around his mouth. "Anyone here?"

"Yes Takuya, alert everyone in the vicinity of our location." Koji muttered sarcastically. "Shout again, whatever's causing the earthquakes might not have heard you."

Takuya shot the raven an annoyed glance and on queue, the ground moved dangerously beneath them.

"It seems to be coming from over there." Koichi said when the shift had ended, pointing to the far end of the village where the smoke appeared thicker.

Takuya considered the area before making a decision.

"We'll have a look, but everyone stay on alert and be careful.

A hoarse cry, soft and almost lost among the constant booming tremors, had them all freezing.

"What's that?" Tommy asked and the younger teen suddenly took off.

"Tommy, wait!" Takuya shouted, quickly following.

"You shouldn't just run off." Yoshiko called after them and shook her head, turning to the rest. "Now what?"

"We better go after them." Koichi said.

Koji sighed and nodded, muttering the whole time about brash friends that always ran headfirst into trouble.

"We haven't even spent ten minutes here and there's already problems."

…

"Tommy! Come on wait up." Takuya called and silently thanked the heavens when the boy finally stopped. "Why'd you just run off like that?"

"Takuya…"

The brunet frowned when he heard the confusion and anguish in his friends tone and turned to look at whatever had caused it.

"What the-."

Before them was a section of the village, broken roof tops and walls, trees in between the small buildings and upturned earth…and though the destruction was just as all the other ruins they had passed, the difference was in their appearance.

The area was dull and grey, crystallized.

"Takuya." Tommy whispered, turning to face the older teen with worried green eyes. "Why is it like that?"

Takuya approached one building carefully and stretched out a hand to touch a grey patch. As soon as his skin made contact with the shining material, he retracted his hand in shock.

"It feels like glass and…" The brunet broke off with frown.

"And?"

"Dead…Tommy, it feels dead." Takuya said softly, backing away from the house. His eyes scanned the area and a growing dread built up within the brunet as he took in the expanse of crystal that stretched across the horizon, no visible end from what he could tell.

"I would guess the data was gone, but that would usually take everything, wouldn't it?."

Takuya and Tommy turned to the approaching figures.

"Do you think only part of the data is gone and that's why it looks like that?" Takuya asked Koichi who had his hand on a grey tree trunk and was eying it with a strange expression.

"I don't know…it feels sorta empty."

"Dead?" Takuya asked and Koichi nodded.

"This is beginning to look very bad." Tommy murmured.

It was quiet among them and Koji frowned.

"We all heard someone crying…that means there's a survivor." He said quietly. "Let's find them and then find out what's going on."

"Come on, times wasting." J.P said, spurring the rest into action and they began picking their way carefully through the diamond-like scenery.

"Koji!"

The raven turned in surprise at the sound of his name, surely not coming from anyone in their group and his breath hitched in recognition.

"Gotsumon…"

The rock creature was grinning widely and on his shoulders sat a familiar long-eared rabbit.

"You don't know how glad we are you're here." Gotsumon exclaimed once nearby and peering happily at each of them.

"We gotta help Bokomon before they eat him!" Neemon cried mournfully.

"Give us the short version of what's happening?" Koji asked, placing a hand on his old friends shoulder. "We'll get into the details later."

Neemon clambered down and through himself at Tommy and the smaller teen comforted him softly.

"Show us where he is." Koichi said.

"You'll help."

"There was never any option not to." Koji said with a smile and Gotsumon cheered. The girls giggled.

"Absolutely." Takuya nodded, hands clenched tightly, the sensation of grief and death overwhelming his senses.

_Someone was destroying his home…extinguishing the flame and he wasn't going to let them get away with it._

The brunet's eyes sparked with a raging glow that no one noticed. In answer, the land hummed quietly in tandem with the chaotic earth tremors awaiting its warrior's discovery of truth, so he could be blessed with flame's true power.

It was only matter of being patient.

* * *

"This place is incredible!" Saya exclaimed with wonder, her pink orbs fixed upon the passing green world that lay beyond the glass of her window. _There are so many colours, I've never seen such variety in one place!_

"It's just trees and fields." Ren muttered with a roll of his eyes. He had a headache and the pink-haired girls constant bouncing was beginning to grate on his very agitated nerves. "Exactly like the ones we have back home. Nothing amazing."

Saya simply stuck her tongue at him in reply, causing Haru to giggle, though he stopped when Ren shot a glare his way and buried his face in Zoe's arm.

"Well I happen to think it's great." Saya declared. "And leave Haru-chan alone. You're like a grumpy old man being denied his pudding cup at an old age home."

"And you're like a little kid in a candy store." Ren snapped in return.

_At least he's not in denial anymore, _Zoe thought absently, cringing internally at the mild argument she had earlier with Ren and how he had refused to tolerate her wild stories and hallucinations.

_I guess anyone would change their mind once they actually saw a real digimon…Then again, maybe it was just her luck that a couple of Piximon, had chosen that moment to fly past…You cant really deny something once everyone has seen it._

"When do you suppose this…train will be stopping?" Haru quietly asked, interrupting Zoe's mental escapade.

"I suppose it will stop whenever we reach our destination." The blonde replied, smiling kindly at him. "Only the Trailmon knows where we are meant to be."

"Well, isn't that encouraging." Tyler whispered acerbically to himself in his little corner, not having moved or said much since their initial meeting.

"You have something to say?" Zoe asked and the redhead snorted.

"Not to you."

Zoe's eyes narrowed and she huffed irritably. There was just no winning with him.

"You know, some people actually grow up when they pass sixteen." She hissed and didn't look away when Tyler threw her a cold glare, continuing even though Saya and Ren had fallen silent to watch the exchange. "Apparently, this wasn't the case when it came to you."

"Yeah, cause you're so mature all the time." Tyler muttered in reply.

"At least I make an effort."

Saya and Ren exchanged curious glances, while Haru watched nervously but no one interrupted.

Whatever friction there was between the two step siblings, was their business and it wouldn't be right to interfere. However, any reply Tyler was about to make, was cut off as a lilting voice echoed throughout the compartment, the German accent thick and making the words a bit hard to hear. Saya squeaked and blushed furiously when everyone's attention was drawn her way.

"I was taken by surprise." She defended, willing the blood in her face to go away. _How embarrassing._

"Rain Terminal approaching…Make ready for departure."

_Rain Terminal? _Zoe frowned. _Never been there before._

Standing with Haru still clutching her arm, the blond decided it was time to find out exactly where they were headed.

"Angler, can you hear me?" She called out clearly green eyes fixed on a random spot above her head.

"Ya, ah kan hear yew human."

"Can you tell me where the Rain Terminal is situated in the Digital World?"

"Yew on the Water Kontinent, south west of the Earth Kontinent. Main lokations are East Village and near the south, the KaratsukiNumemon Mountain."

"Really?" Zoe asked, surprised and Angler hummed a yes and she thanked him for his help, then turned to address the others.

"This is good, I have a rough idea of where we are."

"Please be seated as wee enter the Terminal."

"Okay…" Ren drawled, crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl. "And then what? We arrive and go where exactly?"

Zoe smiled sheepishly. _Really hadn't thought that far, _she mused.

"You don't have a plan or any idea of what we should do next?" Ren asked, eyebrow raised disbelievingly. "We're gonna disembark and what; hope the solution is going to walk right up to us?"

"Just because Zoe's been here before, doesn't mean she knows what the Digital World's current situation is." Saya replied scathingly. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm not making any concrete plans until I understand exactly what's going on."

"We can always question Angler when we stop." Zoe added. "If he even knows anything."

"Sounds good to me." Tyler agreed quietly. "It wouldn't be wise to blindly travel this world and simply hope for the best."

Zoe couldn't help the laugh that left her lips and shrugged when they all turned to stare at her.

"That's kinda how we dealt with it our first time here…" At Ren's hard glare and Tyler's subtle eye roll, Zoe felt the need to defend herself "We were all under twelve and didn't know any better…I can safely say I learnt from the experience."

"Hopefully…" Tyler mumbled but Zoe chose to ignore him, instead she sat down and Haru moved a little closer.

"Zoe?" The little boy said, tugging at the hem of her shirt.

"Yes."

"Are you going to try find your friends?"

"Definitely. I cant imagine getting through this without them." Zoe said and ruffled the boys hair. "Just like they wont stop until they found me."

She then laughed and shook her head with a fond smile.

"Besides, they would get into too much trouble without me to bale them out."

"They sound like the best." Haru said with an oddly strained smile.

Zoe nodded, a little concerned but not sure if it was her place to question the small boy.

"I wouldn't trade them for anything." She whispered with a brilliant smile then glanced down into curious brown eyes. "If you ever find friends who mean the world to you, never let them go Haru…They'll be the greatest gift you ever receive."

Haru smiled shyly.

"I think I understand…"

"Maybe you should try contact them once we stop?" Saya asked and held up her beige and pink device. "You said these might be like communicators, right?"

Zoe nodded.

"Yeah, maybe."

"At least that's some kind of plan." Ren mumbled and closed his eyes. _He hated not being prepared and this was the most ill-equipped position he had ever been in._

Tyler chose to remain silent as the train began to noticeably slow down, and stared out the window, watching as in the distance, a grey construct got larger as they moved closer.

_No turning back now, _he thought. _Whatever this is, we're all here till the end it seems._

* * *

Bokomon was losing hope fast.

Devimon and Dokugumon had appeared suddenly, taking the small village inhabitants by surprise as they decimated house after house, with gleeful enthusiasm. Their mindless soldiers absorbing both fractal code and essence, their actions methodical and precise.

He had lost track of Neemon and Gotsumon in the rushing crowds, in a feeble attempt to help others escape the onslaught and now he wasn't quite sure where they might be…Hopefully safe.

The white digimon cast a glance in the direction of the Terminal wondering if he had failed. _Had their message truly been sent? Was anyone even coming?_

He had seen no Trailmon arrive. No inclination that they had been successful.

"There you are rat…" A dark voice hissed and Bokomon was suddenly suspended in the air, trapped between black pincers and staring into obsidian eyes.

"Oh dear…" He couldn't help whisper.

Devimon laughed wickedly from his place to the giant spider's left, his head tilted slightly to watch the scene unfold.

"There's no escape now." Dokugumon murmured, tightening her pincers just enough to have him gasping for air. "Tell us what you know and we'll make your stay at the Moon Tower as painless as possible."

"…which isn't very painless." Devimon smirked. "How about we simply offer you a quick death instead of the long, torturous one I'm longing to give you?"

Bokomon knew this was the end because he would never tell them anything, so closed his eyes and waited. He saw no shame in dying to protect this world.

He only hoped his message got out…that they were coming…

"Put him down!"

Bokomon blinked. _That was Gotsumon's voice, but surely he had taken the chance to escape…_

"Hey!"

Meanwhile, Bokomon's brown eyes snapped open at the sound of the familiar voice, his heart skipping a beat when he caught sight of Takuya's blazing expression.

_It worked._

"Hey ugly! Pick on someone your own size." Takuya shouted as slid down the hill, chucking a rock in the spiders direction. The rest of the group stopped at the hills precipice, alert and wary.

Bokomon cursed and commended the brunet's bravery.

Dokugumon turned slowly, eyes gleaming at the simpleton who dared interrupt. She blinked when she realized the new arrivals were not of the digimon variety but rather a child.

"Human…" She hissed. "Ssso, the call was answered…and here I was thinking the little pestsss had failed."

She shook the rat lodged in her pincers.

"Apparently that was not the case."

Devimon descended from where he had been sentinel in the sky, angry with himself for not noticing the boy sooner.

"Put him down!" The teen demanded.

"Or what?" Dokugumon asked silkily.

"Put him down now." Takuya growled, fury washing through him like a searing force.

"Takuya, be careful." Tommy warned.

Takuya growled. He didn't care if he had no spirits or that these two digimon could probably end his existence in a flash…Bokomon was in trouble and he'd be damned if he didn't do anything to help his friend out. The heat itched all around him, purring in his ears.

"I'll put him down…" Dokugumon considered. "…If you're going to take his place."

"Yeah, I'll take his place…it'll bring me a step closer to kicking you in the face, you ugly bug!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Yoshiko shrieked.

"If they don't kill him, I will." Koji promised, cursing his friends recklessness. He glanced around for a weapon of some kind, silently cheering when he noticed a short steel pipe.

"You gonna help out?" Gotsumon asked when the raven returned with his find.

"If he needs it, yes."

"Then maybe, you'll look better once I smash your face in." They heard Takuya respond to one of Devimon's comments.

J.P sighed. "Yeah, he's gonna need that help."

"Little human brat! I'll destroy you where you stand." Devimon roared. "Death Hand!"

Takuya barely had time to avoid the blast of sizzling dark energy. He rolled sideways, adrenalin pumping as he pushed himself back on his feet to avoid a sharp set of claws.

There was heat and fire and all he could do was act, no time to stop…just feel.

_It's time…_

Koji didn't waste a second sliding down the hill after his twin assured him they would stay out the way.

The raven then sprinted towards Dokugumon, pipe brandished and ready. The giant spider hissed a laughed and stood there with Bokumon in her clutches, obviously not concerned enough to think about moving.

_Big mistake…_Koji smirked.

'You were told to let him go." He said as he reached one of her great legs. "Im about to make you regret not listening."

"Really?" She asked in a bored fashion and took a lazy swipe at him.

Koji ducked and in two swift movements, hit her one pincer then jabbed up sharply into her abdomen. Dokugumon roared and coiled into herself, Bokomon dropping from her hold.

Koji dropped the pipe and caught him.

"Got you."

"And I got you!"

Koji hissed as Dokugumon's pincer connected with his ribs, while Bokomon's frantic cries and that of his brother, filled his ears. His body hit the floor with a thud and he lay there stunned.

A shadow loomed overhead and he watched Dokugumon's large pincers descend.

_What a way to go…_

_…_

Takuya saw Koji fall, he saw the spider approaching, he knew Devimon was near…The heat surrounded him in a great flare and his vision turned white. Only the heat mattered. And it was everywhere. Burning…

Alive and angry…

…

The end never came. A bright light, warm and brilliant, engulfed them and Koji heard Dokugumon curse.

"Get out of here."

Koji pushed himself up slowly, Bokomon still held carefully in his arms. Takuya was standing before him, but something was different…

"Takuya…"

"I said go."

Koji frowned but stood and did as asked.

"Be careful." He murmured as he edged away back to where the others were gathered. Koichi instantly inspected him and Koji brushed him off gently.

"I'll be okay."

Takuya watched his friends leave before refocusing on the two digimon now staring at him intently.

"You're going to pay for what you've done." He hissed.

Devimon laughed.

"And how do you suppose to make us pay?"

"How does your end sound?"

The heat surged up around him and he could sense something forming in his hand.

_This was it. This was the answer._

Takuya closed his eyes and let the warmth envelope him completely, no longer ignoring the call.

_'You are our chosen warrior son of flames…Wield our Sunstone and bring destruction down upon those who would douse our fire!'_

_With great pleasure…_

Great red and golden flames sprung up around Takuya, burning hot and bright like the sun as his fingertips made contact with the glowing stone. Suddenly, an enormous feeling of warmth blossomed within him and filled his entire being with its passionate, radiant energy.

Takuya grinned, his dark eyes echoing the moving flames that surrounded him, and in that single moment, he knew what he had to do.

Sunstone held firmly in one hand and his D-Tector in the other, light flared as he brought the two items together.

"Execute! Jewel Evolution."

Fire danced before his eyes and the world erupted in a flash of flames and swirling data. Ribbons of red and gold light wrapped around him and Takuya could feel his body stretching and reconfiguring to suit his new form.

In the next instant, the light and flames exploded, and an entirely different being had emerged.

"Suryamon."

Everyone stared on in amazement at the large figure and Koji scoffed lightly, though an amused twinkle shone in his cobalt eyes.

"Figures that the moron would be the first one to get a spirit."

"A_ what…?" _Caede whispered in confusion.

"Well, that clears up your theory, Bokomon." Gotsumon announced looking mildly awestruck and prodding his white companion in the arm. "Because that is definitely no digimon I've ever seen."

"What theory is that?" J.P asked curiously.

"The theory that you'd all get different types of spirits this time around." Gotsumon answered. "After all, the Legendary Warriors did move on, merging with the land."

"Indeed." Bokomon replied softly, brown eyes laced with astonishment and wonder as he spoke to all present. "What you see before you is Suryamon, an ancient digimon of fire from long before the time of the Legendary Warriors…A jewel spirit formed from the first known flame…I never thought…I'd never imagined that I would see it with my own eyes."

"It's incredible." Yoshiko murmured, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

"I wonder if that fire burns his skin."

The old company barely blinked at Neemon's odd statement, but Caede threw a worried glance in Takuya's direction as if taking the yellow rabbits concern, into serious consideration.

"Don't worry Caede, the flames aren't hurting him." Koichi assured the pink-clad girl quietly.

She glanced at him through auburn bangs and bit her lip as if she wanted to protest before nodding hesitantly.

"I anything, it's good that he's on fire." Tommy piped up and J.P hummed in agreement.

"Why?" Yoshiko asked looking curious.

"Fire is a part of who Takuya is, just as light is for me." Koji answered without taking his eyes off his transformed friend. "We all have our connection to this world and without it, it's like we barely exist."

"It's the essence of who you are." Bokomon said with a smile.

Koji frowned slightly at once again hearing that term and made a mental note to get some answers once everything had calmed down.

Dokugumon and Devimon stood nearby, their expressions shocked yet unflinching at this unexpected occurrence.

The search for the elemental jewels had been a wide and highly important affair; something considered top priority by their Lord. So far, the constant searching had turned up nothing but legends, ghost stories and dead ends…Yet here was a mere human child who had not only located one of the twelve archaic gems, but had also fused with it to become a warrior of great power.

"Impossible. It's an abomination." Devimon hissed furiously. "There's no way this human brat should be capable of becoming something so revered."

Dokugumon regarded the situation with a thoughtful silence as her partner ranted.

The Lord had been insistent that the humans be dealt with immediately, and what she had once viewed as paranoia, she now saw clearly as strategic intelligence.

These humans were more equipped to trace the ancient jewels than any of their forces could ever be. Thus, they were a dangerous threat.

"Whatever happened to destroying me where I stand?" The flame-wreathed figure mocked with a feral grin, his golden eyes flickering with the glow of a flame. "Don't tell me you've gone and changed your minds? How boring…"

Dokugumon stiffened at the insult and Devimon barely suppressed a growl.

_What insolence!_

"You obviously have no idea who you are dealing with?" Devimon snarled.

Suryamon tilted his head thoughtfully.

"No, but you're most likely going to tell me, right?"

Devimon screamed in frustration and surged forwad.

"Evil Wing!"

Suryamon batted the attack away with a lazy motion of his hand.

"What, that's the best you got?"

"Dark Blast!" Devimon cried.

Suryamon grinned and raised his arms.

"Corona Blaster."

The balls of fire collided with the pulsating energy and immediately cancelled it out, then Suryamon breathed in deeply, ready to end this and done with playing.

"Mega Inferno!" Great flames poured from his mouth and the devil creature had no time to avoid the onslaught of fire. He hit the ground screeching while Dokugumon tensed.

"It's time to retreat…for now." She muttered, huge eyes glittering speculatively. "We have underestimated you humans."

"No!" Devimon hissed and the spider whirled on him. A great void of darkness opened up behind them and she pushed the bat into it.

Suryamon watched the portal close and internally, Takuya shuddered with the instant weariness that washed over him.

Light flared and he fell to the ground in his human body once more.

The last thing he heard was his friends worried calls and Koji's irritated exclamation of "I told you to be careful," before he lost himself to blessed darkness.

* * *

"What did you say!"

A crystal pillar shattered, the shards shooting outwards and scattering across the black floors with a tinkle of shimmering grey shards.

"You let them get it! A spirit lying right there, under your very noses and you let those human brats get their filthy hands on it. Worse! One of them even bonded with the spirit."

_The spirit of flame, right there this whole time…after months of searching!_

"They got lucky this time Milord, but I assure you it will not happen again." Devimon promised.

Darkus raised a clawed hand to silence the devil and continued to pace in thoughtful silence, his dark cloak billowing around like a black flame. The remaining occupants watched on, fully aware of their masters' thin temper and not keen to entice his wrath.

_It was unfortunate…annoying…but he could salvage this inconvenience…After all, if you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself. Wasn't that the saying?_

Eventually, Darkus stopped in his tracks and a quiet chuckle issued from his lips. He turned to face his minions, eyes glowing with unnatural light.

"I'll allow your grievous _error _to slide for now." He informed his two agents, sadistically taking delight in the way they trembled with obvious relief at not being punished while Meramon watched on impassively.

"Thank you Milord." Dokugumon murmured.

"Yes, thank you. Milord is most kind." Devimon uttered, bowing low.

"You'd do best to remember that…" Darkus smirked and turned away from them. "For now you can leave. I will have to meditate on our next plan of action."

The two digimon quickly left the crystal chamber and Darkus approached the three glittering statues near the centre of the room.

"So your little guardians have made it through the barrier, and thus far they are ahead in the game…but how far can luck take them? And do you honestly think they stand a chance against me, the lord of Darkness?"

Darkus chuckled and turned away.

"The answer is no but I'll amuse myself watching them try."

_To be continued…_

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**A/N: **Please review. Comments are appreciated and any ideas are taken into consideration. The spirit scene definitely needs some work, so I will fix it up at a later stage, but for now it will have to do and I hope it was ok.

**Extra Facts/Info: **How the new Digi-evolution works: the D- Tectors have a scanner type-thing similar to their old versions. The jewel becomes data/pure energy when it encounters its destined and then, is absorbed into the device permanently.

The first time they evolve, and then whenever they evolve afterwards, data will appear as it did in the canon events along with the ribbons of light that represents 'Essence'.

Simply put, their new spirits reside within these jewels.

I most likely butchered Angler's accent but I'm not German nor can I write accents very well, so my end product will have to suffice.

Since there are no maps available for Digimon Frontier, I am taking liberties with locations and building my own map from what information I can find online and obviously memories taken from the series (which I last watched when I was thirteen- so roughly nine years ago). Any confusion, let me know and I will explain as best as I can and maybe later try to include a crudely designed map ^-^

And lastly I have a question; Am I giving everyone enough screen time? I don't want any characters to feel like extras of boring, so let me know if I should spend a little extra effort if their characterizations don't seem to be enough. Is this all making sense to you guys? Comments, thoughts and queries are important.

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**_Suryamon (Jewel Evolution)_**

**_Type-_**_ Ancient Jewel Warrior of the Dragon species. Born from the first flame._

**_Jewel_**_- Sunstone; a ruby type sphere that holds the essence of fire._

**_Appearance-_**_ Tall humanoid with dragon-like features. Crimson armour with black trim/edging and cream body suit underneath. Shoulder pouldrens with a protruding gold spike. Gold clawed feet. Red and black loin cloth and a giant gold broadsword with red and black hilt, strapped to back. Short yet wild burning orange hair that almost looks like flames. Most of face except for mouth, covered in a dragon-like mask that is crimson with black trim and two golden spikes above each eye. Golden eyes under mask and teeth are much sharper than humans. _

_(Suryamon is roughly based off Agunimon/Agnimon's appearance and a little of EmperorGreymon)_

**_Attacks (and descriptions) -_**_ Flame-Storm Blade (blade covered in molten hot flames that can slice through almost anything), Corona Blaster (a mass of mini fireballs shot from hands), Mega Inferno (fire breathed from mouth) and Mega Flare (large burst of flames formed when two hands placed side by side)._

_***Spirit inspired by an Indian deity named Surya and said to be powered by the sun or known to wield fire. Mega Inferno was inspired by Iroh's, Dragon's Breath attack from Avatar the Last Airbender._


End file.
